Reviewed by Rachel Stauffer, University of Virginia

In her introduction, Martha Tennent states: ‘Translation . . . does not occupy a neutral space. It is much more than a mere cross-cultural exchange, and the task of training aspiring translators/interpreters requires new directions, as well as revisions of traditional notions concerning their roles’ (xxiv). This statement and the essays within this volume are the result of a conference known as the Vic Forum, held in Spain in 1999 at the University of Vic. The conference was attended by linguists and scholars in cultural studies, and Tennent claims that the collaboration of professionals in the two disciplines directly contributed to the creation of the present volume, a collection of papers that deal specifically with the problems of effectively training translators and interpreters to achieve cultural as well as linguistic accuracy. In recent years the field of translation and interpretation has gained in popularity and focus, and this publication seeks to continue that trend as well as to improve the state of the field by exploring strategies that better prepare and train the world’s translators.

The book is arranged into three major subject areas: training programs (sixty-three pages), pedagogy (110 pages), and theory (seventy-one pages). Part 1 on training programs contains two papers: ‘Training translators: Programmes, curricula, practices’ by Margherita Ulrych, and ‘Training interpreters: Programmes, curricula, practices’ by Helge Niska. As both titles suggest, these articles attempt to characterize the current state of existing vocational, undergraduate, and postgraduate curricula in the field. Part 2, ‘Pedagogical strategies’, contains five chapters and is the most substantial of the three. ‘Minding the process, improving the product’, by María González Davies, offers innovative and contemporary methods designed to enhance traditional pedagogy in the field, with special emphasis on experiential and task-based learning. Technology integration is addressed in Francesca Bartrina and Eva Espasa’s ‘Audiovisual translation’, which suggests strategies for the teaching of dubbing, subtitling, and multimedia translation, as well as in Richard Samson’s ‘Computer-assisted translation’. Teaching methods for simultaneous translation and interpretation appear in Daniel Gile’s ‘Teaching conference interpreting’ and in Ann Corsellis’s ‘Training interpreters to work in the public services’. In Part 3, ‘The relevance of theory to training’, on theory, Francesca Bartrina’s ‘Theory and translator training’ stresses the need for a theoretical foundation in training programs. Andrew Chesterman’s ‘Causality in translator training’ presents a scientific approach to the field by offering an empirical model of translation. Christiane Nord’s ‘Training functional translators’ emphasizes the importance of teaching translators to be interculturally competent, and Rosemary Arrojo’s ‘The ethics of translation’ recommends that instructors call attention to the responsibility of the translator to strive for accuracy as the sole means of cross-cultural and interlingual communication.

The volume’s epilogue contains Michael Cronin’s ‘Deschooling translation: Beginning of century reflections on teaching translation and interpretation’. This final part appropriately highlights the influence of technology that continues to impact the function of human translators. It is a fitting conclusion to the articles within this book as it serves to facilitate the discourse in all areas of this significant field.