As the editors explain at the outset, this edited volume comprising some fifteen chapters emerged from a number of biannual conferences on the theme of economic, business, financial and institutional translation launched in 2014 by Daniel Gallego-Hernández, based at the University of Alicante. The production of high-quality specialised translations has never been more in demand, and this book reminds us that approaches to the task can be multiple and are not without difficulty. Indeed, one of the book’s strengths is its exploration of particular cases in point as well as its exposition of the varied and rich stages and solutions which may be used to facilitate high-quality business and institutional translations.
The book is divided into three parts: institutional translation; business, finance and accounting; specialised translation. The first part dealing with institutional translation covers issues relating to standardisation and regulation in a range of contexts and languages: Turkish, Korean and Arabic and interactions in European governmental institutions. These specific cases, which are underpinned by new and innovative empirical research, are illuminating as they unearth challenges which seem to recur despite the large geographical and linguistic scope of the case studies considered. Unquestionably, Tomàš Svoboda’s investigation of quality assurance practices adopted by some of the Member States of the European Union is especially timely at a moment when the composition of the Union itself looks set to alter significantly following Brexit. Continuing to cooperate across linguistic frontiers with comparable quality checking mechanisms for translations of governmental policy documentation will remain a priority for the EU and its partners.
The second section considers specific topics such as lexis used in business translation as explored by Miriam Leibbrand, and metaphors used in economic-financial language as investigated by Iván Martínez Blasco. It also explores more general concepts such as hybrid texts in purchase agreements as highlighted by Leticia Moreno-Pérez. Especially thought-provoking is Dima El Husseini’s assessment of the creative capacities of translation when multiple languages and cultures come into contact as in the case of French and Egyptian, seen in practice on websites such as booking.com.
The third section focuses largely on the preparation of a new generation of translators and interpreters by considering how courses offered by universities equip professionals for the realities of the workplace and business markets in particular. With reference to Spain, Carmen Álvarez García finds that companies prioritise permanent employees over freelance translators and interpreters hired for specific assignments; such firms also insist on skills related to, at least, the knowledge of foreign languages, especially English, as well as a working knowledge of negotiation and marketing. For this reason, the author argues, universities should try to reduce the difference between the academic and professional worlds through a curriculum with greater optionality, enabling students to develop the skills truly valued by global companies. This issue is also studied in the context of Saudi Arabia by Turky Alshaikhi, Andrew Rothwell and Maria Fernandez-Parra, who investigate whether the skills translators acquire map onto market demands. In the professional realm of law and legal translation, Montserrat Cunillera Domènech outlines how traditional lexicographical tools, such as multilingual and bilingual dictionaries, often provide confusing and insufficient information, causing non-legal expert translators to make serious meaning errors. Cunillera Domènech demonstrates how equivalence and appraisal theory may be useful tools to overcome such shortcomings. Laurence Jay-Rayon Ibrahim Aibo suggests that online discussion fora offer a useful, alternative way to help train translators for the realities of specialised translation. Roda P. Roberts and Belén López Arroyo bring the volume to a close by advocating the use of multilingual comparable corpora and show their usefulness through a case study of wine production.
Clearly, this compilation ranges across an impressive breadth of material from Egypt to Saudi Arabia and beyond, but nevertheless manages to maintain a sustained focus on particular issues which are at stake in the production of any translation. This volume is bound to be of particular interest to both experienced and emerging professionals working in the field of translation. It will also be an invaluable reference point for educators running courses on master programmes in Translation Studies since studies revealing such detailed analyses of applied translation are notably few in number. As such, this collection of essays is undoubtedly a welcome addition to the field and will surely be a must on the reading list of any postgraduate course which deals with technical, economic or legal translation.
Bruno Levasseur
University of Roehampton
E-mail: bruno.levasseur@roehampton.ac.uk
Rikke Hartmann Haugaard (for the Spanish contributions)
Aalborg University
E-mail: haugaard@cgs.aau.dk