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On the Status and Professional Self-Perception of Translators in Israel
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Sela-Sheffy, Rakefet |
| Copyright Year | 2008 |
| Abstract | What I would like to present here is part of my work in progress on the social status and the construction of occupational identities of translators, with reference to the situation in Israel as a case in point. I proceed from the assumption that Translation Studies still focus too much on translation performances, without enough attention to the motivations and constraints of the human agents behind them. The study of norms has shown that performing translation is determined by a whole set of cultural factors. One of these factors is clearly the way translators perceive their occupation and their role as cultural agents, which is determined by their status as a professional group and as individuals. This occupational factor is hardly considered a central factor in Translation Studies. Moreover, in fact, it is not treated like one in the sociological identity research either. In this brand of research, discussions of group stereotypes and conflicts usually revolve around the national, ethnic, racial, class or gender axes. However, one cannot fail to notice that an occupation, namely ‘what one does in one’s life’, is an important resource for identity and prestige. As biographical research often shows, ‘a job or profession [often] constitute a major component of [people’s] understanding of their lives’ (Linde 1993: 4), and creates a significant context within which ‘group identity and values [are] maintained and perpetuated’ (Lubove 1965: 118). In this respect, the case of translators is especially intriguing. On the one hand, there is a great potential power encapsulated in their work as culture mediators, particularly today, when so much attention is being devoted to globalization, migration and transnationalism. This is all the more true in multicultural social settings, where inter-lingual exchange is inevitable. Such one example is the Israeli society. A small society of 7 million people, it continuously undergoes, ever since the early 20 century, massive processes of culture formation and transformation. It is basically composed of a bi-national, divided population of Jews and Arabs, coupled with an influx of immigrants and guest workers, all of which create an ever-growing need for translators and interpreters. In addition, being a peripheral culture in the socalled world-system, yet highly ambitious and rapidly modernizing, the market of translation is large and prosperous, and cultural importation in general plays a central role in shaping dominant popular practices. In fact, as Even-Zohar and Toury have shown, mainly in reference to literature, this has been the case with the construction of modern Hebrew culture ever since its birth in late 19 and early 20 century. Unfortunately, we do not have research on the role of translators in the formation of other textual practices throughout the formative stages of pre-State Hebrew culture before 1948, but we can safely conclude that their role has been crucial. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.tau.ac.il/~rakefet/papers/RS-IsraeliTranslators%5BIstanbul2008%5D.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
