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Cited by 3,758Translation Studies and PracticesSubtitles and Audiovisual MediaLanguage and Culture

Descriptive Translation Studies – and beyond

Toury, Gideon·1995·Benjamins Translation Library
DOI 10.1075/btl.4
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Abstract

A replacement of the author's well-known book on Translation Theory, In Search of a Theory of Translation (1980), this book makes a case for Descriptive Translation Studies as a scholarly activity as well as a branch of the discipline, having immediate consequences for issues of both a theoretical and applied nature. Methodological discussions are complemented by an assortment of case studies of various scopes and levels, with emphasis on the need to contextualize whatever one sets out to focus on. Part One deals with the position of descriptive studies within TS and justifies the author's choice to devote a whole book to the subject. Part Two gives a detailed rationale for descriptive studies in translation and serves as a framework for the case studies comprising Part Three. Concrete descriptive issues are here tackled within ever growing contexts of a higher level: texts and modes of translational behaviour — in the appropriate cultural setup; textual components — in texts, and through these texts, in cultural constellations. Part Four asks the question: What is knowledge accumulated through descriptive studies performed within one and the same framework likely to yield in terms of theory and practice?This is an excellent book for higher-level translation courses.

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  • Most translation scholars understand this negotiation as inseparable from the specific social context and historical moment in which translation occurs.

    “Moreover, they understand this process of negotiation to be inseparable from the specific social context and concrete historical moment in which the translational acts take place.17”

    From Mixing Metaphors: Translating the Indian Medical Doctrine Tridoa in Chinese Buddhist Sources (2010) · cites this paper as Toury 1995

  • Throughout the medieval period, eminent Buddhists such as Dao'an and Xuanzang attempted to establish norms governing translation practices.

    “Throughout the medieval period, eminent Buddhists such as Dao'an 道安 (312/314-385) and Xuanzang 玄奘 (602-664) attempted to establish norms that would govern translation practices.20”

    From Mixing Metaphors: Translating the Indian Medical Doctrine Tridoa in Chinese Buddhist Sources (2010) · cites this paper as Toury 1995, pp. 53-69

  • Most translation scholars, if they allow any equivalence, insist that equivalence is not inherent in languages but is produced by a translator's active negotiation and compromise between two systems of meaning.

    “Most scholars of translation, if they acknowledge any possibility of equivalence at all, insist that it is not something inherent in the languages, but the product of an individual translator's active negotiation and compromise between two different systems of meaning.”

    From Mixing Metaphors: Translating the Indian Medical Doctrine Tridoa in Chinese Buddhist Sources (2010) · cites this paper as Toury 1995

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Authors
Toury, G.
Affiliations
Tel Aviv University (IL)
Corresponding author
Toury, Gideon
Venue
Benjamins Translation Library
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Published
1995-05-18
ISSN
0929-7316 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1075/btl.4
OpenAlex
W4230225957
Cited by
3,758
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 159 · 2025: 158 · 2024: 205 · 2023: 297 · 2022: 223 · 2021: 273 · 2020: 251 · 2019: 217 · 2018: 222 · 2017: 376 · 2016: 241 · 2015: 153 · 2014: 132 · 2013: 139 · 2012: 86
FWCI
56.08
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Benjamins translation library (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Translation Studies and Practices
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Subtitles and Audiovisual Media
  • Social Sciences › Linguistics and Language › Language and Culture
Keywords
descriptive translation studies, translation theory, translation practice, cultural context in translation, translation methodology, translation studies as a discipline

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