Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators

‘Translating across cultures’ and ‘cultural proficiency’ have become buzz words in translating and interpreting. Mona Baker (1996:17) warns that many scholars have now adopted a “‘cultural’ perspective ... a dangerously fashionable word that almost substitutes for rigour and coherence”. As the 21st century gets into stride, so does the call for a discipline combining culture and translation. In 2001, the CIUTI Conférence Internationale d’instituts Universitaires de traducteurs et interprêtes opened its Colloquium with “Kooperationskonzepte für die multilinguale Gesellschafte” rather than on the word, the text and equivalence. The plenary sessions all focussed on transcultural communication and mediation. In 2004, the first international conference on “Translation and Intercultural Communication” was held, a landmark, at least in talk. The aim of this book is to put some rigour and coherence into this fashionable word, and in doing so unravel the ‘X’ factor involved in teaching culture to translators, interpreters and other mediators. It is an introduction to current understanding about culture and its importance in communication, translation and interpretation. As such, it aims to bridge the culture-gap inherent in books or courses focusing on either translation theory and practice, language or ‘institutions’. More importantly, in clarifying the ‘X’ factor, it aims to raise awareness of the role of culture in constructing, perceiving and translating reality. This book should serve as a framework for interpreters and translators (both actual and potential) working between English and any other language, and also for those working or living between these cultures who wish to understand more about their cross-cultural successes and frustrations. The book is divided into four main parts: Part 1: Framing Culture: The Culture-Bound Mental Map of the World. Part 2: Shifting Frames: Translation and Mediation in Theory and Practice. Part 3: The Array of Frames: Communication Orientations. Part 4: Intercultural Competence: On becoming a Cultural Interpreter/Mediator