Bravo Gozalo, J.M. (ed) (2004). A New Spectrum of Translation Studies .

With contributions by John Hutchins, Juliane House, Mona Baker, Brian Harris, Mª Teresa Cabré y Adelina Adelstain, Roda P. Roberts, Aquilino Sánchez y Moisés Lamela, Belén López, Beatriz Méndez, José Mª Bravo, Raquel Merino, José Miguel Santamaría, Julio César Santoyo, Hugo Marquant, Mar San Miguel, Larry W. Belcher y Martín J. Fernández. Valladolid. Universidad de Valladolid, pp. 392. ISBN: 0-85312-788-3. 15.03 €.

A New Spectrum of Translation Studies, edited by J.M. Bravo Gozalo (University of Valladolid, Spain), provides a broad and deep coverage of various aspects of translation and translation related issues, ranging from specialized lexicography to machine translation. The content varies from theoretical topics, some of which have broad pedagogical implications, to studies of comparative or methodological interest or reports of empirical qualitative and quantitative research. The contributions are organized around different themes such as lexicography and terminology, computer-based translation, applied linguistics, specialised translation, literary translation and film studies.

Hutchins' contribution offers a state-of-the art review of machine and computer-assisted translation. The article covers the currently available systems, from the user's point of view; from wholly automatic systems to aids for human translators.

Roberts', Sanchez and Almela's and Cabré and Adelstein's contributions focus on specialised lexicography. In 'Terms in General Dictionaries', Roberts attempts to develop guidelines to improve the coverage of technical terms by monolingual and bilingual general dictionaries. On the other hand, Sanchez and Almela's work deals with the problems of polysemy in lexicography and, particularly of sense discrimination in monolingual dictionaries. Finally in this branch, Cabré and Adelstein's research shows empirically how the organization of semantic information in lexical units accounts for specialized meanings.

The articles by Baker, House, Harris, Merino and Fernandez deal with different aspects of applied linguistics. House, adopting a systemic-functional approach, investigates how English, as global lingua franca influences other European language texts via translation and multilingual production. Baker reviews the concept of equivalence in translation studies to conclude that the notion of equivalence still assumes a close relationship between source and target texts, even when the intent is to produce a target text addressed to a specific reader, rather than one that is faithful to the original. Harris, in his 'The Translation of Names' dips into the problems of translating proper names and implications for teaching. Merino develops a methodological model for text comparison based on descriptive translation studies. Finally in this section, Fernandez outlines a translation-oriented parametrical proposal for contrastive analysis taking account of micro and macrolinguistic factors.

In film studies, Bravo broadly covers conventional subtitling and the specific translation procedures involved.

López, Méndez and San Miguel devote their papers on different aspects of specialised communication and the implications for translation, stating that studies related to the description of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) genres and their constituents contribute not only to a better understanding of these genres but also to the teaching of linguistic scientific devices to students of English for Specific Purposes, technical writers, translators and experts within the fields. The studies range from the rhetoric of research papers and abstracts, to collocations in medical literature or quality assessment of the translation of Newton's Principia. Belcher's contribution can also be included under the heading of specialised communication as it explores the use of the Anglicism mitin (meeting) in a genre of taurine journalism; particularly, this striking contribution focuses on the different meanings of the Anglicism mitin in Spanish taurine reviews.

Santamaría, Santoyo and Marquant contribute excellent studies on literary translation. Santamaría reviews the translation and editing of Ben Jonson's Volpone by Purificación Ribes, while Santoyo retrieves Manuel Azaña as a translator through a penetrating survey of his translations. Finally Marquant examines the French translations of the works of Teresa of Avila.

Prof. Belén López Arroyo
Dpto. Filología Inglesa
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
Universidad de Valladolid
e-mail belenl@lia.uva.es