ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes some basic ideas and trends in the field of translation studies. It deals with translation as a professional practice in different situations. The book covers first translation in use in multilingual institutions, and in multilingual and multicultural societies where translation has become increasingly important given recent massive migration. New trends in translation studies, such as 'micro-history', are also mentioned, where translators' manuscripts, revisions, notes and interviews about actual translations are studied. The book looks at the translator's working environment, including modern translation practices such as computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools, localization practices and project management. An important facet of translators' work today has to do with ethics and the need to accept responsibility for their work, which may mean rejecting the translation of racist, sexist and otherwise offensive texts.
