Robinson Douglas. Becoming a Translator: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Translation

3rd edition. — Routledge, 2012. — 248 p. — ISBN: 0415615917, 0415615909.Fusing theory with advice and information about the practicalities of translating, Becoming a Translator is the essential resource for novice and practicing translators. The book explains how the market works, helps translators learn how to translate faster and more accurately, as well as providing invaluable advice and tips about how to deal with potential problems, such as stress.
The third edition has been revised and updated throughout, offering:
extensive up-to-date information about new translation technologies
discussions of the emerging "sociological" and "activist" turns in translation studies
new exercises and examples
updated further reading sections
- a website containing a teacher’s guide, the chapter ‘The Translator as Learner’ and additional resources for translators
Offering suggestions for discussion, activities, and hints for the teaching of translation, the third edition of Becoming a Translator remains invaluable for students and teachers of Translation Studies, as well as those working in the field of translation.External knowledge: the user’s view
Internal and external knowledge
Reliability
Textual reliability
The translator’s reliability
Timeliness
CostDiscussion
Exercises
Suggestions for further reading
Internal knowledge: the translator’s view
Who are translators?
Professional pride
Reliability
Involvement in the profession
Ethics
Income
Speed
Project management
Raising the status of the profession
EnjoymentDiscussion
Exercises
Suggestions for further reading
The process of translation
The shuttle: experience and habit
Charles Sanders Peirce on instinct, experience, and habit
Abduction, induction, deduction
Karl Weick on enactment, selection, and retention
The process of translation
Discussion
Exercises
Suggestions for further reading
Drawing on experience: How being a translator is more than just being good at languages
What experience?
Intuitive leaps
Pattern-building
Rules and theoriesDiscussion
Exercises
Suggestions for further reading
Starting with people: Social interaction as the first key focus of translators’ experience of the world
“The meaning of a word is its use in the language”
Experiencing people
First impressions (intuitive leaps)
Deeper acquaintance (pattern-building)
Psychology (rules and theories)Discussion
Exercises
Suggestions for further reading
Working with people: The workplace as the interactive setting for specialized terminologies
A new look at terminology
Faking it (intuitive leaps)
Working (pattern-building)
Terminology studies (rules and theories)Discussion
Activities
Exercises
Suggestions for further reading
Translation as an operation performed in and on languages
Translation and linguistics
What could that be? (intuitive leaps)
Doing things with words (pattern-building)
The translator and speech-act theory (rules and theories)Discussion
Exercises
Suggestions for further reading
Working and understanding through social networks
The translator as social being
Pretending (intuitive leaps)
Pretending to be a translator
Pretending to be a source reader and target author
Pretending to belong to a language-use community
Learning to be a translator (pattern-building)
Teaching and theorizing translation as a social activity (rules and theories)
Skopos theory
The sociological turn in twenty-first-century translation studiesDiscussion
Exercises
Suggestions for further reading
The impact on translation of culture(s)
Cultural knowledge
Self-projection into the foreign (intuitive leaps)
Immersion in cultures (pattern-building)
Intercultural awareness (rules and theories)Discussion
Exercises
Suggestions for further reading
When habit fails
The importance of analysis
The reticular activation system: alarm bells
Checking the rules (rules and theories)
Checking synonyms, alternatives (pattern-building)
Picking the rendition that feels right (intuitive leaps)Discussion
Exercise
Suggestions for further reading