Jiménez Serrano, Óscar (2002). La traducción técnica inglés-español. Didáctica y mundo profesional.
Interlingua, 31. Granada: Editorial Comares, pp. 360 pages, 19,50 €.
In this manual, which is divided into three parts, the author focuses attention on the didactics of technical translation, from English to Spanish, based on his professional experience. At the outset, he establishes the theoretical basis of LSP, upon which the manual is based. Subsequently, following an overview of prevailing theories, he expresses his personal opinion on the subject, confirming his belief that in specialized communication the role of the participants in the process has now changed. One can no longer assert that the target audience of specialized texts are experts, because more often than not the audience is the general public. This is why the author characterises technical translators as mediators. The importance of terminology is also stressed, and an overview of the different theories of terminology is provided.
In the second part of the manual the author describes the characteristics of technical language in Spanish, at the lexical, morphosyntactical and rhetorical levels, after which he proceeds to cite the most frequent translation problems when translating technical texts from English into Spanish.
The third part the book deals with the training of technical translators and the practice of technical translation. Firstly, requirements that technical translators must fulfil as technical mediators are given; secondly, the training of professional technical translators from the translator trainer's point of view – aspect of the didactics and planning of a translation subject – is dealt with; and finally, a case study of technical texts about mobile phone networks is given to illustrate current technical translation practice. This case study describes the translation task, the documentation and translation processes, and how these texts can be used in the specialised translation classroom.
Pilar Sánchez-Gijón
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona