[CfP] Translation Studies
Translation Studies Special Issue on Historical Studies on Institutional Translation – Aims, Scope, and Methods
Special issue editors: Valérie Dullion, University of Geneva (valerie.dullion@unige.ch) and Reine Meylaerts, KU Leuven (reine.meylaerts@kuleuven.be)
Context and rationale
Institutional translation has been a research topic in translation studies for nearly two decades, since the publication of a pioneering monograph by Koskinen (2008). The need to study the historical aspects of institutional translation was emphasized on several occasions (e.g. Kang 2009; Koskinen 2014), and research in this direction has indeed given rise to a number of publications (e.g. Delisle and Otis 2016; D’hulst and Koskinen 2020; Wolf 2015). Historical studies on institutional translation are characterized by a wide variety of contexts, questions, and methods, which reflects the diversity and complexity of the examined phenomena.
It seems appropriate now to undertake a theoretical and methodological reflection on how to intensify the development of integrative approaches aiming to go beyond case studies. The time has also come to consider how historical research into institutional translation, beyond its specialized focus, can fully contribute to translation studies as a discipline and open up important avenues for interdisciplinary research with fields such as history, law, politics, economics, management, etc.
This special issue provides a space for these endeavours. In line with the aims and scope of Translation Studies, it encourages reflexivity within the discipline, and places emphasis on connections, links (both internal and external), and synthetic accounts.
Scope and significance
Institutional translation refers to
those cases when an official body (government agency, multinational organization or a private company, etc.; also an individual person acting in an official status) uses translation as a means of “speaking” to a particular audience. Thus, in institutional translation, the voice that is to be heard is that of the translating institution. As a result, in a constructivist sense, the institution itself gets translated. (Koskinen 2008, 22)
In this process, the translating institution both shapes and demonstrates a collective and organized way of dealing with linguistic diversity in a specific cultural context.
Cultural contexts vary in several respects, one of which is time. Exploring continuities and changes in the multilingual voice of the translating institution involves examining the interaction of institutional translation with contextual (particularly political and social) factors. The way translation is used by institutions both reflects and influences the notions of how individuals should exercise their rights and responsibilities with regard to the institution in question and to society at large. Institutional translation thus plays a role in shaping institutions and societies over time in terms of multilingual citizenship, civil rights, linguistic rights, democratization, nation building, internationalization, to name just a few.
Taking a historical perspective on institutional translation leads to questioning certain assumptions. With historical hindsight, the multilingual experience of some contemporary institutions does not appear to be as unique as it often claims to be. There are also factual reasons to challenge the narrow definitions of “translation” and “translators” based on recent professional practices, as well as formalistic, strictly legal views of linguistic regimes and translation policies. In short, historical studies provide insights for a critical approach to institutional translation in its cultural context, thus complementing more technical approaches primarily concerned with quality management.
Focus and contribution
This special issue focuses on the research aims, theoretical scope, and methodological approaches of historical studies on institutional translation. It provides an opportunity to consider the following issues: (1) how periodization, time scales, and historical-comparative designs can be used to promote integrative approaches; (2) how historical research into institutional translation can contribute to theoretical discussions in translation studies (for example, on the processes of institutionalization and professionalization); (3) what forms of interdisciplinary research can be developed to analyse the complex socio-cultural factors involved in the history of institutional translation; and (4) how methods and tools may evolve in parallel with the digitization of archives and the development of Digital Humanities, where researchers face important challenges in dealing with historical sources and corpora that are sometimes scarce, scattered, incomplete, or only implicitly concerned with translation.
Possible topics
The guest editors invite articles contributing to the development of historical perspectives on institutional translation with a focus on research aims, theoretical scopes and methodological approaches. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Historical contexts of institutional translation – their diversity in terms of the relationship between space, languages and power; processes of institutionalization and de-institutionalization;
- Variety of institutional translation and transfer practices in history;
- Positive vs negative views, over the course of history, on institutional translation and its impact on language and society;
- Aims of a historiography of institutional translation; research approaches and designs;
- Use of archives, catalogues, and corpora;
- Place of historical studies on institutional translation, and connections with other fields of research.
References
Delisle, Jean, and Otis, Alain. 2016. Les douaniers des langues. Grandeur et misère de la traduction à Ottawa, 1867–1967. Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.
D’hulst, Lieven, and Koskinen, Kaisa (eds.). 2020. Translating in Town. Local Translation Policies during the European 19th Century. London: Bloomsbury.
Kang, Ji-Hae. 2009. “Institutional Translation.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha, 141–145. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
Koskinen, Kaisa. 2008. Translating Institutions. An Ethnographic Study of EU Translation. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Koskinen, Kaisa. 2014. “Institutional Translation. The Art of Government by Translation.” Perspectives 22 (4): 479–492.
Wolf, Michaela. 2015. The Habsburg Monarchy’s Many-languaged Soul. Translating and Interpreting. 1848–1918. Translated by Kate Sturge. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Submission Instructions
Articles (in English) should be up to 8,000 words in length (including abstract, notes, and references).
Abstracts (up to 300 words, excluding references) as well as a short biography (up to 100 words) should be submitted to the guest editors (valerie.dullion@unige.ch and reine.meylaerts@kuleuven.be) by 31 January 2025.
Schedule
Submission of abstracts: 31 January 2025
Decisions on abstracts: 28 February 2025
Submission of articles for peer review: 30 June 2025
Submission of final version of articles: 31 December 2025
Publication date: May 2026
For more details, please visit: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/historical-studies-institutional-translation/