Friday, 4 November 2005: 15.30-16.45
METM 05, Barcelona, Spain

Insights from translation studies: what’s new in localisation theory and practice

Anthony Pym teaches at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain, where he is director of postgraduate programs in translation and localisation, which includes the PhD program Translation and Intercultural Studies. He holds a PhD in sociology from the EHESS, Paris, and is author or co-author of 11 books in the general area of translation and cross-cultural communication.
http://www.fut.es/~apym/

The traditional models of translation are being challenged by the industry-based concepts of localisation (translation plus adaptation), internationalisation (preparing texts for rapid localisation), content management (recycling texts as information objects) and globalisation (restructuring business practices accordingly). This seminar will attempt to give these terms meaning within the context of work on software and websites, and will propose that the work processes used in those sectors can be found in many other forms of cross-cultural communication as well. The result seriously challenges traditional models of translation, particularly its interface with technical writing. Consequences will be drawn for training programs, both in universities and in industry.