Editorial

Antoine Berman, among others, has eloquently stated that for any translation to take place, a desire to translate needs to be present. Of this desire, one prominent facet surfaces in all translation types in concerns expressed by all translation professionals: aspiration for quality. Quality of course, takes many faces, which is why perfect models cannot and should not be created. Yet in the "construction of the comparable" (Ricoeur), which translation has been equated to, in the yearning for an accurate, sensitive and clear rendition of a text, translators are involved in much more than a translation process.  And in this process, it is not only the translator who is in danger of being invisible, but the many tasks s/he needs to perform in order to work satisfactorily. It might therefore be important to make sure that the notion of translation encompass a wide range of activities, including those relating to an evaluation of the translated product.

Revision is at the heart of this issue of JoSTrans. In the professional world, where time and money rule, little energy is usually devoted to such aspects of translation, as is deplored by most translation professionals all over the world. Some scholars, such as the contributors to this issue, and others (Daniel Gile for  example, in his recent book La Traduction  : la comprendre, l'apprendre), lament the fact that translators frequently have to build a network of revision and evaluation themselves, as too often no revision service is provided by companies or agencies.

We are honoured that Louise Brunette, who has worked on revision issues for many years, agreed to guest edit this issue in order to bring a topic of the highest importance to the fore. She has gathered some of the most experienced writers and professionals in the field, who will contribute to establishing revision as a necessity in the translation process. Since she has written introductory pages to present each article and put them in context, I won't do so here.  The three streamed interviews available with this issue also focus on the broad topic of revision. They are three very different voices expressing different concerns, Louise Brunette essentially from a training perspective, Jody Byrne both as a technical translator and a trainer, Dimitri Siger-Périan as a young localiser confronted with the harsh pressures of the on-line gaming world.

Lucile Desblache