ABSTRACT
A simple description might seem to require no grand theory. In fact, it could be considered too simple to be taken seriously by scholars. Some of the most significant concepts in European translation theory have nevertheless come from what we will call a broad “descriptive paradigm.” This paradigm can be traced back to the Russian Formalists at the beginning of the twentieth century, where we find the basic idea that scientific methods can be applied to cultural products. That idea connected with translation theorists in three broad regions. The first link was with the work done in Prague, Bratislava and, more loosely connected, Leipzig. The second link was with what is called the “Tel Aviv school” (EvenZohar, Toury and the development of Descriptive Translation Studies). The third link was through Holland and Flanders. When literary scholars from those three areas met and discussed their projects at a series of conferences, Translation Studies started to take shape as an academic discipline. That history is extremely important – this particular paradigm does not come from the same roots as the others mentioned in this book. This chapter focuses on the main theoretical concepts derived from descriptive studies: translation shifts, systems and polysystems, “assumed translations,” a focus on the target side, norms, universals, and some proposed laws of translation. In historical retrospect, descriptions have turned out to be anything but simple.
