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Article published In:
Target
Vol. 34:4 (2022) ► pp.543–564

Translatophilia

ORCID logo | University of Hong Kong
This article advances the notion of translatophilia, defined as the fetishisation of translation in hypercorrection of its perceived marginalisation. Using how Translation Studies scholars have engaged with the copyright regime in postpositivist fashion as a case in point, it argues that in the course of resisting structuralist notions of originality and authorship, Translation Studies has ironically come to fetishise its object of study as the privileged site of a new individuality and personality – romantic myths it initially set out to dispel. In light of the recent ‘outward turn’ in Translation Studies, the article identifies sources of anxiety in the field that have pushed it toward extreme theorisation. It proposes that before Translation Studies makes its outward turn, it is pertinent for it to first turn inward to combat its translatophiliac tendencies.
Keywords: translatophilia, postpositivism, fetish, copyright law, outward turn
Article outline
  • 1.The “new Age of Translation”
  • 2.Postpositivist perspectives on translation
  • 3.“The translator is and is not an author”
  • 4.The language fetish
  • 5.The romantic conception of translatorship
  • 6.De-fetishising translation
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 27 January 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.20198.lee
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Buts, Jan & Deniz Malaymar
2024. A Look at What is Lost: Combining Bibliographic and Corpus Data to Study Clichés of Translation. Corpus-based Studies across Humanities 1:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Kotze, Haidee
2024. Concepts of translators and translation in online social media: construal and contestation. Translation Studies ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Gambier, Yves
2023. The conceptualisation of translation in translation studies: a response. Translation Studies 16:2 ► pp. 317 ff. DOI logo

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