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Target
Vol. 16:1 (2004) ► pp.143–156
Discussion

Shared culture?

Reflections on recent trends in Translation Studies

| University of Tampere / Academy of Finland

Ever since the “cultural turn” in Translation Studies it has been commonplace to state that translation is an act of cultural mediation. However, the concept of culture as such has remained elusive. A number of questions remain unanswered: How can we define a culture? What kind of empirical evidence is needed to prove the existence of a particular culture? Looking for answers, I start with a personal note, with my own previous attempt at conceptualizing translators’ work in the European Commission by defining the EU institutions as a (multilingual and institutional) culture of its own. Responses to this model convey varying views of the concept of culture. By analyzing and contextualizing these responses it is my aim to provide some answers to the question of what kind of a construction culture is. The results of the analysis are then used to reflect on recent developments in Translation Studies.

Keywords: culture, EU translation, cultural studies, linguistics, self-reflexivity, critical discourse analysis, Critical Translation Studies
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The (mine)field
  • 3.Explosive material
    • 3.1The insider experience
    • 3.2Clashing theories
    • 3.3Why the confusion?
  • 4.Ways out of the minefield
    • 4.1New words?
    • 4.2New categorisations?
  • 5.Critical Translation Studies
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 February 2005
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.16.1.09kos
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