Reviewed by Taras Shmiher, Ivan Franko National University, L’viv, Ukraine
Translation theory and globalization studies have vast areas of common interest in investigating how global information flows across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Esperança Bielsa and Susan Bassnett suggest an examination of global communication through translation practices, both from a diachronic and synchronic perspective.
Ch. 1, ‘Power, language and translation’ (4–17), presents the role of translation in a global society. The very notion of translation may be regarded in a dual way: it makes communication between cultures possible, but it may also reinforce an unequal power relationship between nations. Factually, not all languages and cultures are of equal power and status. Investigations of these power relations are necessary to this field. The authors attempt to elucidate how and why absolute domestication turns out to be the dominant strategy in news translation.
Ch. 2, ‘Globalization and translation’ (18–31), is devoted to globalization as a sociological phenomenon and its relevance to translation studies. The authors argue that the availability of global information sources (e.g. the World Wide Web) allows for information to overcome spatial barriers and promotes the centrality of knowledge. Some theorists have focused on the global circulation of material and non-material goods, showing its increased profusion and speed during the last few decades. The noted asymmetry between globalization and the production of knowledge and information is directly reflected in translation when examining the directionality of global information flows.
In Ch. 3, ‘Globalization and news: The role of the news agencies in historical perspective’ (32–55), the authors review the function of the media in popularizing images of simultaneity. This influence has been present since the first modern newspapers appeared in mass circulation. News agencies later developed into powerful agents of globalization in the late twentieth century through the incorporation of written, oral, and audio-visual modes of human communication due to technological progress and computer-aided innovations. .
In news practice, translation is not regarded to be separate from other journalistic tasks and is usually performed by a news editor. Ch. 4 ‘Translation in global news agencies’ (56–73) shows how the organization of news agencies has changed to take on a more global presence. The editor has specific skills for providing such translations so as to facilitate communication between different linguistic and cultural communities. Editorial duties now include changing titles and leads, eliminating unnecessary information and adding important cultural information to suit the interests of both local and global audiences.
This theoretical and historical consideration is followed by case analyses. Ch. 5, ‘Journalism and translation: Practices, strategies and values in the news agencies (74–94), examines existing practices and specific strategies as applied in the regional headquarters of Agence France-Presse and Inter Press Service for Latin America in Montevideo. Ch. 6, ‘Reading translated news: An analysis of agency texts’ (95–116), focuses on textual analysis in order to present the nature of translation in news agencies.
The authors question the truthfulness of global news agencies in Ch. 7, ‘Translation and trust’ (117–32). In addition to different textual and communicative conventions, within each country there are enormous divergences of style and expectations that are driven by market and political prospects. The authors investigate the extent to which textual manipulation occurs in the target culture.
‘Appendix: The languages of global news’ (133–47) contains the coverage (e.g. main presentations, discussions, and feedback) of an international symposium on globalization, linguistic difference, and translation in the production of news, held at the University of Warwick in 2004. The book also includes extensive notes, a substantial bibliography, and an index.