ABSTRACT
Over the past few decades, translation studies has undergone several developments (‘turns’) that have mainly served to broaden the object of study. The focus on non-change (the equivalence paradigm) has gradually given way to a model that privileges variation, dynamics and different types of change (including modal, cultural, social, technological, and media-related). Paradoxically, these forms of expansion in scholarly thinking are undermined by a (new?) reduction of translation through its instrumentalisation as a tool in modern technological applications. The growing complexity of the notion of translation in scholarly discourse clashes with a tendency in non-specialist contexts to emphasise the handy, simple, tool-like quality of translation. Drawing on the recent publication Border Crossings (Gambier & van Doorslaer 2016), this chapter explores ways in which the concept of translation is employed in adjacent disciplines, and concludes that the dominant view is (still) that of an exclusively language-based practice. In light of this, it suggests revisiting the discussion about the name of the discipline.
