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Translation Practice in the Field: Current research on socio-cognitive processes
Edited by Hanna Risku, Regina Rogl and Jelena Milosevic
[Benjamins Current Topics 105] 2019
► pp. 161–182

Knowing in translation practice

A practice-theoretical perspective

This paper addresses the relationship between practice and knowledge in translation. It employs practice theory to conceptualize ‘knowing-in-practice’, introducing a theoretical approach to translation studies that enables an analytical focus on the practice of translating, rather than on the cognitive processes of translators or the textual features of translations. Against this practice-theoretical backdrop, knowing is construed as an emergent phenomenon that is sited in translation practice. Drawing on an empirical analysis of translating in a research organization, the paper then illustrates how this situated and embodied knowing is materially and discursively mediated and transpires in translation practice. Through its interdisciplinary approach, this research offers new sociological perspectives on the human and material interdependencies constituting translation in the workplace.

Keywords: practice theory, knowing-in-practice, embedded knowing, embodied knowing, translation practice, workplace research
Article outline
  • 1.Conceptualizing practice and knowledge
    • 1.1Practice theory
    • 1.2Knowing-in-practice
    • 1.3Knowledge and knowing in translation studies
  • 2.A study of knowing in and through translation practice
    • 2.1The site of translation practice
    • 2.2Knowing as situated in time and place
    • 2.3Knowing in regimes of doings and sayings
    • 2.4Knowing as materially mediated
    • 2.5Knowing as embodied
    • 2.6Knowing as relational
    • 2.7Interconnectedness of practices and knowings
  • 3.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 7 August 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/bct.105.08olo
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