Editorial

Jostrans will be celebrating its second birthday with this fourth issue, which centres on two themes: technical translation/translation technology, and audiovisual translation.

As the journal develops, its three-fold electronic, multilingual/cultural and integrative approach evolves and strengthens.

Jostrans is intended to be an electronic publication. This means that it is not as restricted in its quantitative output as a paper journal would be. It opens possibilities as regards publication in a wide range of languages, and in areas which may not be of interest exclusively to the mainstream translation community but perhaps address the needs of smaller groups. Electronic media also allows texts to be brought speedily to their audience in a variety of ways. Interactive exchanges in the form of online discussion groups, bulletins, chat rooms and other electronic platforms have been extremely successful and are well provided trough professional organisations or through translation services. But other types of resources, such as streamed interviews with professionals in the field of translation, are not readily available. This issue allows you to meet three successful specialists working in audiovisual translation. We hope you'll enjoy the interviews.

One of our priorities is to give a voice to a range of languages and cultures. This multilingual/cultural mission, made easier by our electronic dimension, still needs to develop. We welcome more contributions from a range of countries, for example from those countries such as eastern and central Europe where translation and interpreting have long been valued and discussed as important subjects. In this issue we have contributors from Australia, Canada, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

The third part of our approach supports an integrative vision of translation. This is evidenced by our views on non-literary translation and our desire to provide a link between academia and the industry. Professionals in the field of translation and interpreting, be they scholars or practitioners, can and do contribute to making the world a more united place. We believe that we can nurture this trend.