Constructing a Sociology of Translation.pdf
Constructing a Sociology of Translation.pdf
Constructing a Sociology of Translation.pdf
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8Erich Prunčsmall social groups. Writing by itself was a highly prestigious activity. The invention<strong>of</strong> the printing press triggered a revolution which turned translation into amarket factor. Shortly after Gutenberg invented movable type in 1450, the firstmajor translations <strong>of</strong> the bible were undertaken and increasing number <strong>of</strong> genreswere being translated and printed. This development reached its first climax inthe translation factories <strong>of</strong> the nineteenth century which fragmented the translationprocess thus imitating industrial production processes (Bachleitner 1989).In addition to the doyens and patrons <strong>of</strong> translators, who tried to derive symboliccapital from translations, and the institutions and holders <strong>of</strong> power, whotried to gain influence through translations, now a new group evolved, namelythe publishers who were keen to maximize their pr<strong>of</strong>its. This development eventuallybrought forth a translation market where speed and quantity were the maincompetitive parameters. This trend further intensified in the nineteenth centuryas the number <strong>of</strong> readers and the number <strong>of</strong> lending libraries increased and thelibraries became a powerful factor in the field <strong>of</strong> translation. Mass production andcompetition also resulted in negative side effects like price dumping, poor qualitytranslations and loss <strong>of</strong> image for the translators.The last stage in this development was initiated by recent advances in theprinted media, the development <strong>of</strong> electronic media as well as the emergence<strong>of</strong> global networks which led to an exponential rise in the number <strong>of</strong> publishedtranslations and gave translation as a field <strong>of</strong> action its current form.The use <strong>of</strong> audiovisual media, however, initiated yet another development.Because interpretations can now also be reproduced and recontextualised, theonce clear dividing line between translation and interpreting is once becomingblurred.The habitus <strong>of</strong> translatorsA review <strong>of</strong> the history <strong>of</strong> translation from a sociological perspective shows thatthe habitus <strong>of</strong> translators not only involves the internalisation <strong>of</strong> subalternity andmarginality (Simeoni 1998) but that there is now a wide range <strong>of</strong> prototypicalhabitus, located on a cline between the habitus <strong>of</strong> the priest and the habitus <strong>of</strong> theself-effacing pariah.The translator-priests see themselves as the guardians <strong>of</strong> the word and as thegate keepers and constructors <strong>of</strong> culture. They know that they have the power toselect, to transform and to define, which also provides them with the key to sociallyaccepted values and truths. The habitus <strong>of</strong> the translator-priest first emergedin Mesopotamia where the priests guarded and interpreted the interlinear translations<strong>of</strong> the Akkadian texts (Vermeer 1992 :52). It was later adopted by the great