Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen and Englund-Dimitrova, Birgitta (eds) (2018). Exploring the Situational Interface of Translation and Cognition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 163, 85€/128$, ISBN 978 9027263360.

This volume is a much-needed contribution to translation and interpreting research as it addresses a theoretical gap that is only now starting to be filled: By focussing on the “situational interface” of translation and interpreting activities, the editors bring together the social and the cognitive, two research perspectives that have as yet seldom been explored in one common context.

In their introduction, the editors discuss how emerging technologies and forms of work organisation are restructuring translators’ and interpreters’ work and work environments. They claim that these changes are highly interrelated, influencing both social and cognitive aspects of translation and interpreting. Following this rationale, they discuss how a combination of cognitive and social perspectives can contribute to a better understanding of the specific situations translation and interpreting activities are embedded in. They argue that such research calls for workplace studies in authentic work contexts, which sets the focus chosen for this book apart from previous methodological traditions within cognitive translation research.

Chapter 1, by Isabel García-Izquierdo, presents the preliminary findings of a research project on the translation of patient information texts. A mixed methods approach was developed to gain insights that might help to: (1) improve written patient information and the social interaction between patients and medical staff; and (2) provide authors of medical texts with an expert documentation platform as a resource for text production that better adapts to text conventions, target groups and the texts’ specific contexts of application

Chapter 2, by Yong Zhong, provides a fascinating account of the translation, interpreting and educational practices of an activist translator in rural China. Zhong investigates the social change brought forth by the translator’s activities and discusses the possibilities of framing them as a new form of practice which he refers to as “live translation.” He thereby challenges traditional boundaries between translation and interpreting, between interlingual and intersemiotic translation and between the reproduction and co-construction of knowledge.

The contribution in Chapter 3 is an ethnographic study by Sofie Van de Geuchte and Leona Van Vaerenbergh on the process of multilingual production of legal texts, conducted at the EU Directorate General for Translation. Their reconstruction of the editing and translation processes in a specific legislative project reveals how translators form part of a cooperative system, how the institutional context and regulative norms affect their work, and how different interest groups’ interventions may impact the readability of the final texts.

In Chapter 4, Sari Hokkanen and Kaisa Koskinen provide a highly insightful discussion of the potential of affect as a methodological indicator in translators’ or interpreters’ narratives. Since human meaning-making and sense of self are steeped in narrative practices, this methodological approach provides a means of exploring affect beyond the individual and inherently mental. It is particularly promising in that it may draw our attention to aspects of lived translation and interpreting work that deserve more attention.

Chapter 5, by Jiqing Dong and Graham H. Turner, illustrates the consequences of current forms of interpreting service provision for interpreting practices on the ground. The study shows how interpreting is shaped both by the organisational ergonomics of the interpreting agencies and the actual places the interpreters are assigned to. It points to the complex relationships of dependency and control between interpreters and the agencies they work for.

In Chapter 6, Dragoş Ciobanu reports on a study on the use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) in translation. His data from an online survey and a quasi-experiment reveal how translators use ASR and what impact this technology might have on translators’ productivity. The contribution also discusses a series of observations that are highly relevant for questions of ergonomics and accessibility in translation work.

Finally, in Chapter 7, Ricardo Muñoz Martín challenges the very concepts of translation acts and events (cf. Chesterman 2013, based on Toury 2012), which several of the contributions in this volume refer to. By demonstrating that many of our translation process models actually operate on views of cognition that are no longer sustained in cognitive science, Muñoz Martín points to the conceptual challenges of exploring the situational interface. The contribution provides food for thought not only for a future conceptualisation of the intersections of the cognitive and the social, but makes us reflect on the nature of our theoretical models as a whole.

To conclude, the thematic focus chosen for this book certainly makes it an inspiring and timely addition to our field. The great value of the book lies in that it demonstrates the wealth of insights that can be gained from workplace research that bridges diverse theoretical traditions and places humans front and centre. This book will be a rewarding read for anyone taking an interest in the complexity of real-world translation, interpreting and multilingual text production.

References

Regina Rogl
Centre for Translation Studies, University of Vienna
E-mail:regina.rogl@univie.ac.at