Is Translation Studies going Anglo-Saxon?

Critical comments on the globalization of a discipline

Mary Snell-Hornby | University of Vienna, Austria

The paper focusses on the dominant role of English in the academic discourse of Translation Studies and the effects this has on communication within the scientific community: the danger is increasing that the language English is not only used as a means of communication (e.g. with publications and conferences exclusively in English), but actually forms part of the object of discussion, dealing with facets of languages contrasted to English, and using English examples, whereby non-native speakers are disadvantaged, other approaches are ignored, and “pseudo-English” discourse is increasingly tolerated. The paper discusses the subtle difficulties involved in English academic discourse and presents a number of possible solutions, concentrating on the concept of passive multilingualism and the introduction of “bridge languages” as a means of gaining access to languages other than English or the active working language of the individual scholar.

Published online: 25 February 2010
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.88.09sne

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