Evaluación microbiológica de los extractos obtenidos

Let us now look at some of the works produced over the past decade in the fi eld of TS in Japan. To maintain the focus on institutional identity, the object of examination here is those works that explicitly associate themselves with TS.

In other words, the focus is on the 77 papers published in JAITS’ two journals:

37 published from 2001 to 2010 in Interpreting and Translation Studies (known as Interpretation Studies from 2001 to 2007) and 40 published from 2007 to 2011 in Invitation to Translation Studies . Although a brief overview of the characteristics of these papers is provided, in line with the aim of this paper the main focus of discussion here is on the disciplinary sources of their theoretical and methodological underpinnings and the institutional backgrounds of the authors.

In terms of country of origin (the place where the article was written), 66 articles (86%) originated in Japan, 4 in Australia, 3 in Canada, 2 in the United Kingdom, and 1 each in Korea and Sweden. Most of the articles (92%) are written in Japanese, and the rest are in English. Forty-four articles (57%) address translation between Japanese and English, and the others deal with Chinese, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Korean, Mongolian, and Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian in combination with Japanese. Th e areas of research are spread over various categories, such as text analysis (19 articles), translation history (15), audiovisual translation (10), translator training (9), translation quality assessment (8), the translation process (7), and translation technology (5). A variety of research methods are applied. Historical/archival research is used

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most frequently, followed by case studies. Th ere are some studies that draw on experiments, surveys, and corpora as well.

A total of 42 diff erent authors contributed to these 2 journals during this timeframe. Th e most frequent contributor published 6 articles. One feature that might diff er from translation journals elsewhere in the world is the high proportion of works by graduate students. Whereas university teachers contributed 30 articles (39%), graduate students contributed 41 articles (53%):

35 by doctoral students and 6 by master’s students. Th is included 7 articles by graduate students affi liated with overseas universities (Australia and Canada).

Other contributors included freelance translators and teachers at technical colleges and private vocational schools. Nine authors (21%) have relatively recent experience in studying abroad: they either completed in the past 10 years or are currently working on their masters and/or doctoral theses on translation at universities outside Japan: 5 in Australia, 2 in Spain, 1 each in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Most of the articles in these two journals explicitly lay out theoretical frameworks for their data analysis and argumentation. Of the concepts and theories developed within TS, the notion of translation norms is applied most frequently (11 articles), indicating the infl uence of Description Translation Studies in Japan. Several articles refer to functionalist theory, some binary concepts of equivalence, explicitation, polysystems theory, and translation universals. A number of articles adopt interdisciplinary approaches, drawing on theories and concepts from other disciplines, including various branches of linguistics (especially those in line with systemic functional grammar, cognitive linguistics, sociolinguistics, and linguistic anthropology), education (especially language teaching), literary studies, and sociology.

It might be useful to provide a list of works cited most frequently in the papers examined here, as this could indicate the most infl uential disciplinary sources of theoretical and methodological approaches applied to the study of translation in the Japanese context, at least within this particular community. Table 1.1 shows the seven publications cited most frequently. Th e “Number of articles” indicates how many articles cite each work, and the “Number of authors” indicates how many diff erent authors cite that work.

Th e most cited publications are Toury ( 1995 ) and Munday ( 2008 /2009). While Toury ( 1995 ) is generally cited by articles that purport to adopt a Descriptive Translation Studies approach and that apply the concept of norms in translation, various parts of Munday ( 2008 /2009) and Baker ( 1992 ) are referred to as a general introduction of certain concepts and fi ndings of existing translation

research. Nida ( 1964 /1972) and Venuti ( 1995 ) are mostly cited in discussions of binary categories of equivalence and translation methods (i.e. formal vs dynamic equivalence; domestication vs foreignization). Blum-Kulka ( 1986 /2004) is drawn on to introduce the concept of explicitation, and Halliday ( 1994 /2001) is mainly cited by studies that compare source and target texts. All of these publications are available in book form, and three are available in Japanese translation. Japanese authors did not make this most-cited list, indicating the greater infl uence of non-Japanese authors on contributors to these two journals. Th e most frequently cited publication originally written in Japanese is Mizuno ( 2007b ), which applies Itamar Even-Zohar’s polysystems theory to analyze literary translation in early modern Japan. It is referred to in six articles by fi ve diff erent authors.

Discussion

Th is examination of the institutional development of TS in Japan and publications within that community reveals some features characterizing the emerging discipline in this part of the world. First, although interest in translation as an object of academic inquiry has appeared sporadically since the Table 1.1 Works most cited in translation-related articles in JAITS journals (2001–11)

Author Year Title Number

Nida, E. 1964/1972** Toward a Science of Translating

8 7

Venuti, L. 1995 Th e Translator ’ s Invisibility

8 7

Blum-Kulka, S. 1986/2004 “Shift s of Cohesion and Coherence in Translation”

8 7

Halliday, M. A. K. 1994/2001*** An Introduction to Functional

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1970s, it did not amount to a collective endeavor to make it a distinct academic fi eld until aft er the turn of the millennium. Since then scholarly activities concerning translation have rapidly gained momentum, leading to a nascent stage of TS in Japan. Secondly, unlike some other regions in the world where interpreting research is considered an autonomous subdiscipline within TS, the institutionalization of TS in Japan has sprung out of an organization that focuses on interpreting research. Th irdly, graduate students are playing a signifi cant part in publications and conference presentations on TS in Japan. Finally, although linguistic orientations remain strong, many translation researchers in Japan are also receptive to applying theories, concepts, and methods developed by Western translation scholars to Japanese translational phenomena. Th ese characteristics are all interconnected, and they can be analyzed together as follows, mainly in terms of three institutional and social factors: (1) a shift to emphasizing more practical aspects in language education at Japanese universities; (2) contacts with the international community of translation and interpreting researchers;

and (3) a cultural environment in which there is a general interest in translation and well-established publishing channels for translation-related books.

Shift to a more practical orientation in higher education

Against the backdrop of increased global demand for mediation in communication across languages in commerce, government, and culture, there has been a growing number of university departments and programs around the world that are dedicated to teaching translation (see the Translator-Training Observatory by the Intercultural Studies Group). Th is development in higher education is one of the driving forces behind the institutionalization of TS. When a practice-oriented program is established, “research becomes a natural part” (Gile 2010 : 258), since the program’s credibility might suff er without research activity. Toury ( 2008 : 404) notes that the institutional recognition of translation as an academic fi eld drives people to engage more in research and leads to the production of more doctoral dissertations on translation. Translation teachers might also be motivated to promote distinct research and theorizing on translation so as to legitimize translator training in universities and make it independent from language or literary studies programs, as Pym ( 2010 : 49–50; 2011 : 54–6) suggests in the case of German functionalist theory, for example.

University programs dedicated to translation or interpreting did not exist in Japan until several years ago. Instead translator training has generally been in the hands of private companies, such as translation agencies and language schools.

Th is training takes the form of professional translators correcting students’

translation assignments, along the lines of the traditional apprenticeship-type approach generally found in the teaching and learning of skills and craft s in Japan. It constitutes a segment of the huge language teaching market (estimated at over $8 billion ⁵ ), to which translator-aspirants seem to resort (rather than to universities) when it comes to learning practical skills. Th is is because these private schools are generally believed to off er courses that are more relevant to market needs and to act as a gateway to the professional market.

Th e situation has, however, changed over the past decade. Th e prolonged economic diffi culties in Japan have led to a general trend for Japanese universities to off er more practical courses so as to boost students’ marketability in the depressed job market. According to Someya ( 2010 : 73–4), the number of Japanese universities off ering BA- and/or MA-level translation and/or interpreting courses increased fi vefold from 1997 to over a hundred in 2005. Someya ( 2010 : 74) suggests two major reasons for this trend: one is the expectation that translation and interpreting courses can compensate for some of the defi ciencies in the current off erings of English programs at Japanese universities; the other is the “advertising” eff ect in recruiting new students by off ering translation and interpreting courses, which are considered new and diff erent from traditional English courses. Th e Japanese education ministry has also promoted an emphasis on practical aspects in the teaching of English in recent years. In 2000 a report by an advisory group to the ministry ⁶ acknowledged the importance of translation and interpreting in society and stressed the desirability of training professional interpreters and interpreting researchers in higher education and the desirability of advancing machine translation. In response to continual pleas from the business world for Japanese universities to train students in communication skills in English, in 2003 the ministry announced “the action plan to cultivate Japanese with English abilities” (Saitō 2007b : 209–13). Under this government-level initiative to promote practical aspects in English learning, several Japanese universities have received grants for interpreting and translation-related projects over the past several years. With such government endorsement for the teaching of translation and interpreting in higher education, the academic environment seems to have become more accommodating to the institutionalization of TS.

Since this is a recent development, there are not yet many experienced academics for teaching translation or conducting research on translation. On the other hand, more and more students are working on MA and PhD theses on translation in the new translation and interpreting programs, and they are generally encouraged or required to publish their papers. Th is alone can

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explain why graduate students’ contributions account for more than half of the publications examined above.

International contacts

Besides the changes in the institutional environment surrounding Japanese universities, the development of TS in Japan has also been fostered through international contacts. As described above, the main force that drove the institutionalization of TS was the group of translation researchers within JAITS. Th e academic backgrounds of these members and early contributors of translation papers to the association’s journals point to their international exposure, mainly via two avenues—through research on interpreting and through graduate studies outside Japan.

Th e reason that an organization for interpreting research preceded one for translation research can partly be explained, as alluded to earlier, by the extent of engagement with the community of translation and interpreting scholars outside Japan. As indicated earlier, during the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese translation scholars did not seem greatly interested in publishing in international journals or engaging with the international community of translation researchers. By contrast, Masaomi Kondō started a study group on interpreting research in 1990 because he was inspired by a conference he attended in the United States (Kondō 2009 ). As a member of AIIC, an international organization representing professional conference interpreters, Kondō had opportunities to interact with the international community of interpreting scholars. In the early 1990s members of this interpreting study group started presenting papers at international conferences and publishing in international journals. Th eir engagement with interpreting researchers from around the world no doubt exposed them to some developments in TS as well, since translation research and interpreting research are usually bundled together in conferences and journals. It is assumed that some of these interpreting researchers became aware of theories and methods used in translation research and started paying attention to translation issues as well.

Th e other aspect of international contacts is the fact that early contributors to journals on translation research in Japan were people who had studied or were studying in graduate programs in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Th e theories and methods used in their papers on Japanese translation might have directed attention to the development of TS outside Japan. Since then, as indicated earlier, there has been a steady fl ow of contributions (one to two per issue) from researchers who have completed or are working on a doctoral

dissertation in TS programs overseas. Th ese researchers are also playing a part in disseminating information on the tradition of and perspectives on Japanese translation to the international community of translation scholars.

Th e founding statement of Invitation to Translation Studies (Mizuno 2007a ) clearly indicates an awareness of the global development of TS and Japan’s position in it. Mizuno ( 2007a : 1–2) explains that the purpose of this journal is to establish TS as a discipline in Japan, since in his view it lagged three decades behind Europe. He also mentions that the call for papers for TTR ’s special issue on Japanese translation research was the catalyst for the launch of a journal dedicated to TS within Japan. Th us the global reach of TS indeed seems to have played an important role in the inception of the discipline in Japan.

Cultural infrastructure

Lastly, attention should be paid to the cultural infrastructure that has facilitated the recent publication of academic books related to TS in Japan. In addition to the anthology and two translated books mentioned earlier, Japanese translations of Antoine Berman’s L’épreuve de l’étranger ( 1984 ) and Michaël Oustinoff ’s La traduction ( 2003 ) were published in 2008, as was an anthology of writings on translation by German philosophers and authors (translated and commented on by a Japanese scholar; Mitsugi 2008 ). In 2010 a Japanese translation of Cronin’s Translation and Globalization ( 2003 ) was published. Further, a book consisting of selected papers from the above mentioned conference at Ritsumeikan University was published in 2011, edited by Nana Sato-Rossberg, the main organizer of the conference. Almost all of these books were released by well-respected commercial (rather than academic) publishers with signifi cant experience in publishing translated books through the mainstream distribution system at bookstores and online in the Japanese publishing world. Th is might be rather unusual compared with some settings outside Japan, where books related to TS might not be so visible beyond the relevant academic communities.

Th e reason that these commercial publishers are interested in works related to TS might be found in Japan’s hon’yaku bunka (translation culture or culture of translation). Th is term is primarily linked to the crucial role translation has played throughout the political, academic, and cultural history of Japan (e.g. Yanabu 1978 ; Sugimoto 1988 ), but it also refl ects the ubiquity of translation ⁷ and general interest in translation (especially its professional aspects) in contemporary Japan.

In addition to self-refl ective essays by renowned translators, magazine-format career guidance books on how to become a translator abound, one of which

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recently included advertisements for over 100 translation programs, all run by translation companies or language schools (ALC 2011 ). It is possible that some publishers have found commercial value in more academically oriented writings on translation as something novel that goes beyond the popular discourse on translation and as textbooks for use in classes now that Japanese universities have started off ering programs and courses related to TS.

Th us it is possible that this “translation-friendly” cultural environment played a supportive role when eff orts to promote TS as a discipline commenced in Japan. Since all the literature in Table 1.1 is available in book form and some of it in Japanese translation, accessibility and visibility seem to be one of the key elements in non-Japanese writers reaching and being recognized by a greater number of Japanese researchers. With several essential scholarly books on translation ⁸ now readily available to the general public at online and onsite bookstores in Japan, the role these commercial publishers play in the promotion of TS should not be underestimated.