Conflicting discourses of translation assessment and the discursive construction of the ‘assessor’ role in cyberspace

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which translation assessment is discursively constructed by readers participating in an online translation debate. Focusing on a controversy over the Korean translation of Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography of Steve Jobs, it examines how readers participating in a translation debate in Daum Agora, the largest online discussion forum in South Korea, enact the ‘assessor’ role in evaluating the translation. Drawing on the concepts of ‘social role,’ ‘activity role,’ and ‘discourse role,’ I argue that online translation assessors perform the discourse roles of ‘expert-judge,’ ‘activist,’ and ‘assessment evaluator.’ The findings suggest that translation assessment in cyberspace is a subjective, contextualizing process where value, meaning, and function are often a matter of uptake. Furthermore, discourse-based approaches may play critical roles in examining translation assessment in cyberspace as a socially situated act that involves an intricate negotiation of meaning, complex workings of power, and a reconstitution of local social positioning within global cultural flows.

Keywords:
Table of contents

While systematic models and persuasive discussions have led to many fruitful research projects related to translation assessment, especially in the field of translator training, many translation scholars still consider assessment as subjective, controversial, and/or ad hoc (cf. Nord 1997; Maier 2000; House 2001; Colina 2013). Translation quality has been regarded by many as elusive, making it extremely difficult for any researcher to define in concrete terms what a ‘good’ translation is. The divergence in opinion may also be related to different conceptualizations or [ p. 455 ]theorizing of translation. As House (2008, 222) convincingly argues, “[t]ranslation quality assessment presupposes a theory of translation” and “[d]ifferent views of translation itself lead to different concepts of translational quality, and hence different ways of assessing it.” Furthermore, the distinct contexts in which assessment occurs add to the complexity of the discussion. Assessment research typically addresses one of three areas: criticism of published translations, assessment of professional translation work, and evaluation in a teaching environment (Martínez Melis and Hurtado Albir 2001). Different types of assessment are often grouped under the single category of ‘translation assessment.’

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

References

Ahn, Jin-Hwan
2011 “Suthipu Capsu Penyekca Ancinhwanipnita [[I’m] Jin-Hwan Ahn, the translator of Steve Jobs].” Minumsa. Accessed 10 September 2012. http://​cafe​.naver​.com​/minumsa​/18956.Google Scholar
Caldas-Coulthard, Carmen Rosa
2005 “Personal Web Pages and the Semiotic Construction of Academic Identities.” In The Writer’s Craft, the Culture’s Technology: PALA, ed. by Carmen Rosa Caldas-Coulthard and Michael J. Toolan, 23–46. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar
Choi, Won-hyung
2011“Steve Jobs’ Biography Sparks Translation Debate.” The Hankyoreh. Accessed 3 October 2012. http://​www​.hani​.co​.kr​/arti​/english​_edition​/e​_entertainment​/506361​.html.Google Scholar
[ p. 470 ]
Colina, Sonia
2011 “Evaluation/Assessment.” In Handbook of Translation Studies, vol. 2, ed. by Yves Gambier and Luc Van Doorslaer, 43–48. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013 “Assessment of Translation.” In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, ed. by Carol A. Chapelle, 245–251. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Cronin, Michael
2013Translation in the Digital Age. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Elgesem, Dag
2002 “What is Special about the Ethical Issues in Online Research?Ethics and Information Technology 4: 195–203. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fowler, Roger, and Gunther Kress
1979 “Critical Linguistics.” In Language and Control, ed. by Roger Fowler, Robert Hodge, Gunther Kress, and Tony Trew, 185–213. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Giles, David
2006 “Constructing Identities in Cyberspace: The Case of Eating Disorders.” British Journal of Social Psychology 45: 463–477. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goffman, Erving
1974Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
1981Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Hookway, Nicholas
2008 “Entering the Blogosphere: Some Strategies for Using Blogs in Social Research.” Qualitative Research 8 (1): 91–113. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
House, Juliane
2001 “Translation Quality Assessment: Linguistic Description versus Social Evaluation.” Meta 46 (2): 243–257. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2008 “Quality.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. 2nd ed., ed. by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha, 222–225. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Isaacson, Walter
2011aSteve Jobs. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
2011b스티브 잡스 [orig. Steve Jobs]. Translated by Jin-Hwan Ahn. Seoul: Minumsa.Google Scholar
Kang, Ji-Hae
2013“Penyek Swuyongcatulun ‘Penyeknunglyek’ul Ettehkey Ihayhanunka? [How do translation readers understand ‘translation competence’?]” Thongpenyekhakyenkwu [Interpreting and Translation Studies] 17 (4): 1–34.Google Scholar
Kim, Soon-Mi
2011“Onlainsang Tokcatuluy Penyek Piphyeng [Online translation criticism by readers].” Penyekhakyenkwu [The journal of Translation Studies] 13 (2): 7–40.Google Scholar
Lauscher, Susanne
2000 “Translation Quality Assessment: Where Can Theory and Practice Meet?The Translator 6 (2): 149–168. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maier, Carol
2000 “Introduction.” In Evaluation and Translation, ed. by Carol Maier, special issue of The Translator 6 (2): 137–148.Google Scholar
Martínez Melis, Nicole, and Amparo Hurtado Albir
2001 “Assessment in Translation Studies: Research Needs.” Meta 46 (2): 272–287. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mason, Ian
2009 “Role, Positioning and Discourse in Face-to-Face Interpreting.” In Interpreting and Translating in Public Service Settings: Policy, Practice, Pedagogy, ed. by Raquel de Pedro Ricoy, Isabelle Perez, and Christine Wilson, 52–73. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism
2012Chwulphanmwunhwasanep Cinhung 5Kaynyen Kyeyhoyk [The 5 year plan for the promotion of publishing culture industry]. Seoul: Kyeymwunsa.Google Scholar
Minumsa
2011Suthipu Capsu Penyek Kwanlyen Kongciipnita [Notice about the translation of Steve Jobs].” Minumsa. Accessed 25 November 2012. http://​minumsa​.com​/blog​/17918/.Google Scholar
Munday, Jeremy
2012Evaluation in Translation: Critical Points of Translator Decision-Making. Abingdon: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
[ p. 471 ]
Nord, Christiane
1997Translating as a Purposeful Activity. Functionalist Approaches Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
OECD
2015 “OECD Broadband Portal. Broadband and Telecom.” OECD. Last updated 19 February 2015. http://​www​.oecd​.org​/sti​/broadband​/oecdbroadbandportal​.htm.Google Scholar
O’Hagan, Minako
2011 “Community Translation: Translation as a Social Activity and Its Possible Consequences in the Advent of Web 2.0 and Beyond.” In Translation as a Social Activity, Community Translation 2.0, ed. by Minako O’Hagan, special issue of Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 10: 11–23.Google Scholar
Pérez-González, Luis
2010 “Ad-hocracies of Translation Activism in the Blogosphere: A Genealogical Case Study.” In Text and Context, ed. by Mona Baker, Maeve Olohan, and María Calzada Pérez, 259–287. Manchester: St Jerome.Google Scholar
Sarangi, Srikant
2010Reconfiguring Self/Identity/Status/Role: The Case of Professional Role Performance in Healthcare Encounters.” In Discourse, Identities and Roles in Specialized Communication, ed. by Giuliana Garzone and James Archibald, 33–58. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon
2012Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Revised ed. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vanderschelden, Isabelle
2000 “Quality Assessment and Literary Translation in France.” In Evaluation and Translation, ed. by Carol Maier, special issue of The Translator 6 (2): 271–294.Google Scholar
Walther, Joseph B
2002 “Research Ethics in Internet-Enabled Research: Human Subjects Issues and Methodological Myopia.” Ethics and Information Technology 4: 205–216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar