Book Review
The world of translation is becoming increasingly fluid, with important consequences not only for the profession and public perceptions of translation, but also for the teaching and learning of translation-related subjects in universities and other tertiary institutions. With both students and educators cognisant of the need to amend and update relevant curricula and pedagogical approaches, striking a balance between theory and practice remains crucial.
The textbook reviewed here, A Propaedeutics of Translation Studies, is jointly authored by Klaudia Bednárová-Gibová (preface and chapters 1-3, 6, 7, and 9), Miroslava Gavurová (chapters 4, 5, and 8), and Jonathan Gresty (chapter 10), three scholar-practitioners all based at the University of Prešov in eastern Slovakia. Together with An Exercise Book of Translation (Bednárová-Gibová & Gresty, 2022) and A Coursebook on Translation (Bednárová-Gibová & Gavurová, 2023), it forms part of a trio of pedagogical works originally designed for students at the university's Institute of British and American Studies.
As Klaudia Bednárová-Gibová outlines in the volume's preface, the book offers a concise and up-to-date overview geared to the needs of a modern student audience (Bednárová-Gibová, Gavurová, & Gresty, 2024, p. 11). Accordingly, Chapters 1 and 2 provide a panorama of the history of translation, its scholars, and theoretical turns, underlining their importance and introducing the reader to seminal works such as Holmes's (2000 [1972]) pioneering conceptualisation of Translation Studies and Chesterman's (2009) coining of Translator Studies, before also outlining fundamental concepts and approaches to translation (such as the notion of equivalence, functionalist approaches to translation, and product and process models of translation). Chapter 3 locates Translation Studies within the broader domain of intercultural communication, presenting some of its methods and theoretical models.
In Chapters 4 and 5, Miroslava Gavurová foregrounds the concepts of translation shifts, drawing on John C. Catford's (1965) work as well as on the Slovak scholar Anton Popovič, before outlining some of the methodological approaches to translation studies, such as Peter Newmark's volume (1988) and Jean-Paul Vinay & Jean Darbelnet's classic text (1995 [1958]).
The translator's competence and skills are the focus of Chapter 6, where Klaudia Bednárová-Gibová first presents some of the core theoretical models of translator competence (such as PACTE and the EMT frameworks) before outlining a novel competence model based on twelve core attributes, encompassing – among others – bilingual and bicultural, interpretational, stylistic, strategic, thematic, digital, and ethical competences (see Bednárová-Gibová, Gavurová, & Gresty, 2024, pp. 97-98). This theoretical overview is complemented by the practical focus of Chapter 7, which demonstrates the ever-changing technological reality of modern-day translation through brief presentation of core technology-related and digital tools, including terminology databases, Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools, corpora, and a brief overview of Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE).
With Slovakia representing an influential market in terms of literary translation opportunities (Rondziková, 2020), Miroslava Gavurová centres on this aspect in Chapter 8, first sketching the necessary theoretical basis before profiling some of the various types and genres of literary translation (e.g., prose, poetry, drama, and children's literature).
In Chapter 9, Klaudia Bednárová-Gibová offers a summary of the changes that the translation profession is currently experiencing, including the ever-increasing role of English amid globalisation processes as well as the broadening of translation-related activities to include audiovisual translation, the localisation of videogames, and suchlike.
In the tenth and final chapter, Jonathan Gresty provides a wealth of useful practical tips for embarking on a career as a freelance translator. Though centred on the Slovak context, much of the advice he gives is also relevant to other markets. These include the legal necessities for setting up as a freelance translator (including information about taxes and accounting), as well as the different forms of work (e.g., by contracts or tenders). He also gives important tips on how to find and keep clients, as well as other practical information on pricing and invoicing. The book is completed by a glossary of 62 key terms, as well as a bibliography containing almost 200 references.
To summarise, A Propaedeutics of Translation Studies is a concise textbook which is eminently appropriate for Gen Z students and practitioners, given its approach to theoretical and practical aspects of academic translation studies in a clear and well-structured way. To highlight its reader-friendly focus, each chapter is also completed by a summary, a few questions for the reader to ponder, as well as additional literature on the topic and links to videos and other online resources. As such, the volume is accessible not only to students and teachers on translation-related degree programmes, but also across the humanities and social sciences, with its ten chapters fitting neatly into a semester-long programme of study. Furthermore, and similarly to the other two aforementioned volumes (Bednárová-Gibová & Gresty, 2022; Bednárová-Gibová & Gavurová, 2023), A Propaedeutics of Translation Studies is freely available online via Open Access. In short, therefore, these three works together constitute a valuable asset for Translation Studies pedagogy and practice which will benefit students and educators worldwide.
References
- Bednárová-Gibová, K., & Gavurová, M. (2023). A coursebook on translation: A task-based approach to the art & craft of translation. Prešovská univerzita v Prešove vo Vydavateľstve Prešovskej univerzity. https://elibrary.pulib.sk/elpub/document/isbn/9788055531663
- Bednárová-Gibová, K., & Gresty, J. (2022). An exercise book of translation. Prešovská univerzita v Prešove. https://elibrary.pulib.sk/elpub/document/isbn/9788055529240
- Bednárová-Gibová, K., Gavurová, M., & Gresty, J. (2024). A propaedeutics of Translation Studies. Prešovská univerzita v Prešove vo Vydavateľstve Prešovskej univerzity. https://elibrary.pulib.sk/elpub/document/isbn/9788055532943
- Catford, J. C. (1965). A linguistic theory of translation: An essay in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
- Chesterman, A. (2009). The name and nature of translator studies. Hermes - Journal of Language and Communication in Business, 42, 13-22. https://doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.v22i42.96844
- Holmes, J. S. (2000 [1972]). The name and nature of Translation Studies. In L. Venuti (ed.), The Translation Studies Reader (pp. 172-185) [1st ed.]. Routledge.
- Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook on translation. Prentice Hall.
- Rondziková, N. (2020). On selected aspects of the literary translation profession in Slovakia. Bridge: Trends and Traditions in Translation and Interpreting Studies, 1(1), 101-117.
- Vinay, J.-P., & Darbelnet, J. (1995 [1958]). Comparative stylistics of French and English: A methodology for translation. John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.11