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Part of
Field Research on Translation and Interpreting
Edited by Regina Rogl, Daniela Schlager and Hanna Risku
[Benjamins Translation Library 165] 2025
► pp. 251–276

Chapter 11
Thinking with actor-network theory to unearth the (in)visibility of translation in a journalistic setting

ORCID logo | University of the Free State
Translation in a journalistic setting often disappears in the news production process. On the one hand, news organisations rarely appoint translators, and on the other hand, the task of translation is typically embedded into the news workers’ daily activities. Journalists’ perception of translation as an interlingual activity also reinforces the seeming invisibility of translation. This chapter illustrates that it is possible to shed light on less obvious instances of translation in radio station newsrooms when thinking with Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory. Latour’s ‘travel guide’ provides a framework to trace and showcase the human and nonhuman actors involved in translation activities, the translated products, and the multiple sources incorporated in the news production process.
Keywords: actor-network theory (ANT), fieldwork, news translation, visibility, community radio news
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Actor-network theory as slowciological approach
  • 3.Thinking with ANT to collect and analyse data
  • 4.Tracing the actors, associations and connections
    • 4.1Community radio in South Africa
    • 4.2The written account: Data analysis and presentation
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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