Descriptive Translation Studies – and beyond

Revised edition

Gideon Toury
Tel Aviv University
This is an expanded and slightly revised version of the book of the same title which caused quite a stir when it was first published (1995). It thus reflects an additional step in an ongoing research project which was launched in the 1970s. The main objective is to transcend the limitations of using descriptive methods as a mere ancillary tool and place a proper branch of DTS at the very heart of the discipline, between the theoretical and the applied branches.
Throughout the book, theoretical and methodological discussions are illustrated by an assortment of case studies, the emphasis being on the need to take whatever one wishes to focus on within the contexts which are relevant to it.
Part One discusses the pivotal position of the descriptive branch within Translation Studies, and Part Two then outlines a detailed rationale for that positioning. This, in turn, supplies a framework for the case studies comprising Part Three, where a number of exemplary issues are analysed and contextualized: texts and modes of translational behaviour are situated in their cultural setting, and textual components are related to their texts and then also to the cultural constellations in which they are embedded. All this leads to Part Four, which asks what the knowledge accumulated through descriptive studies of the kind advocated in the book is likely to yield in terms of both the theoretical and the applied branches of the field.
All in all: an innovative, thought-provoking book which no one with a keen interest in translation can afford to ignore.

This title replaces Descriptive Translation Studies – and beyond.

[Benjamins Translation Library, 100]  2012.  xv, 350 pp.
Publishing status: Available
HardboundAvailable
ISBN 9789027224484 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00
 
PaperbackAvailable
ISBN 9789027224491 | EUR 33.00 | USD 49.95
 
e-BookSold by e-book platforms
ISBN 9789027274595 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00
 
Google EditionForthcoming
ISBN 9789027274595 | EUR 33.00 | USD 49.95
 
 

Table of Contents

Introduction: A case for Descriptive Translation Studies
xi–xvi
Part I. The pivotal position of Descriptive Studies and DTS
1–14
Part II. A rationale for Descriptive Translation Studies
15–16
1. Translations as facts of a ‘target’ culture: An assumption and its methodological implications
17–34
2. The notion of ‘problem’ in Translation Studies
35–46
Excursus A. Pseudotranslations and their significance
47–60
3. Being a norm-governed activity
61–78
4. Studying translational norms
79–92
5. Constituting a method for Descriptive Studies
93–114
6. The coupled pair of replacing + replaced segments
115–130
7. An exemplary ‘study in Descriptive Studies’: Conjoint phrases as translational replacements
131–142
Part III. Translation-in-context
143
8. Between ‘Golden Poems’ and Shakespearean sonnets
145–160
9. A lesson from indirect translation
161–178
10. Literary organization and translation strategies: A text is sifted through a mediating model
179–196
Excursus B. ‘Translation of literary texts’ vs. ‘literary translation’
197–212
11. Studying interim solutions: Possibilities and implications
213–226
12. A translation comes into being: Hamlet’s monologue in Hebrew
227–240
13. Translation-specific lexical items and their lexicographical treatment
241–256
14. Experimentation in Translation Studies: Achievements, prospects and some pitfalls
257–276
Excursus C. A bilingual speaker becomes a translator: A sketch of a developmental model
277–294
Part IV. Beyond Descriptive Studies
295–316
References
317–336
Name index
337–338
Subject index
339–350

Quotes

“The revised version of this translation studies classic updates and refines many of the arguments that were so influential in revolutionizing the field when the book first appeared. One particularly interesting addition is the expanded discussion of the distinction between the translation act and the translation event. There is also an additional chapter on the concept of the translation problem. The book will be essential for all serious translation scholars.”
Andrew Chesterman, University of Helsinki
“Toury has written a highly thought-provoking book. It opens up new horizons not only to descriptive but also to applied translation studies. I hope the discussion between them will go on to their mutual benefit.”
Paul Kussmaul, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

Subjects

Benjamins Subject classification

Translation & Interpreting Studies

BIC Subject

CFP: Translation & interpretation

BISAC Subject

LAN023000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Translating & Interpreting
U.S. Library of Congress Control Number:  2012005057
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