Interdisciplinarity and Translation Studies

The Spreading of Ideas

Ideas evolve and spread. They may be analogous to genes, and can be called memes
(Blackmore). (See Chesterman 1997 for translation memes).
Ideas traverse disciplinary boundaries with more or less ease.
What are disciplines?
Disciplines can be defined as stable epistemic communities in which there are shared
practices. The advantages of disciplines are that they provide a secure home for enquiry,
they uphold standards, provide a controlled relation to society, and are a power base for
funding requests. (Fuller)
What is interdisciplinarity?
The integration of elements (theories, methods) between two disciplines or from one
discipline into another.
Can be distinguished from multidisciplinarity (the additive juxtaposition of disciplines),
and transdisciplinarity (conceptual frameworks that transcend the narrow scope of
disciplinary world views eg. structuralism) (Klein)
Types of interdisciplinarity:
1) Instrumental interdisciplinarity: borrowing concepts, theories or methods from another
discipline (eg. single researcher borrowing a framework from another discipline).
2) Synoptic interdisciplinarity: exploration of commonalities with the aim of achieving
conceptual unity (eg. two researchers each from a different discipline collaborating on a
project).
Interdisciplinary contacts may be temporary, regular, or lead to a formal alliance.
(Klein)
Benefits of interdisciplinarity:
An interdisciplinary approach may sensitize scholars to questions not normally asked, or
may help interpret and explain the object of study. Due to its inherent openness,
interdisciplinarity leads to innovation, the production of new forms of knowledge, and
epistemic change.
Why is Translation Studies prone to interdisciplinarity?
Translation is a cluster concept (an open concept there are many types of translation
processes and products), therefore Translation Studies itself is an open field. Frames
allow us to focus attention. (Tymoczko)
The object of study is multi-faceted.
What are interdisciplines?
Translation Studies has been called an interdiscipline.
Chestermans (2002) definition: A new discipline often starts life at the interface of
existing disciplines; it is perceived as a hybrid, an interdiscipline, for example
sociolinguistics.

Snell-Hornbys definition: An interdiscipline draws on a number of disciplines without

being a subdivision of any of them.
Translation Studies within other disciplines: traditional disciplinary influences
Linguistics (particularly Contrastive Linguistics), Literary Studies (Comparative
Literature)
Translation Studies as an independent discipline:
Contemporary influences
Linguistics eg. pragmatics, discourse analysis, corpus linguistics
Literary Studies/Cultural Studies eg. feminism, post-colonialism
Psychology eg. think-aloud protocols
Sociology eg. norm theory, Bourdieu
Philosophy eg. ethics, deconstruction
History eg. life histories
Computer Science eg. machine translation
Translation Studies as a ghostly discipline with shifting borders and unstable content
(Duarte, Rosa & Seruya)
Mechanisms of interdisciplinarity:
Borrowing theories and/or methods from another discipline
Partial borrowing (selection of concepts/theories)
Adaptation
Use of theories: using a theory to conceptualize practice; applying a concept or theory;
testing a concept or theory; juxtaposing and comparing theories; developing a model
from the combination of different theories.
Advantages of interdisciplinary borrowing:
1) The borrowed model has already been tested (tendency to borrow successful
paradigms from prestigious disciplines)
2) Making up for gaps
3) Powerful and convincing research
4) New insights
Potential problems:
1) Lack of knowledge/expertise
2) Tendency to simplify
3) Potential distortion (through misunderstanding, inappropriate application, or
partial borrowing)
The Future:
A two-way influence?
Jonathan Ross (2007) has undertaken a fascinating study whereby he has traced the engagement of scholars
outside of Translation Studies with TS literature, through examining Web of Science citation indices.
Obviously there are some methodological difficulties in the study such as defining which discipline(s) texts
and authors belong to. Ross general conclusion is that although there is a fair amount of ignorance with
regard to contemporary Translation Studies, there are a few cases where scholars from diverse disciplines

somewhat distant from Translation Studies, such as Information Science, display a sound understanding
and creative use of TS literature.

From Translation Studies to other disciplines: the importance of rhetoric. Rhetorical

differences between disciplines (Hyland); also cultural differences (Connor) within
disciplines.
What happens when memes from one discipline penetrate another is either undervaluation (due to
entrenched approaches and conceptions in the receiving discipline, and difficulty of understanding and
appreciating a new approach) or overvaluation (due to unfamiliarity, and finding the new approach highly
original).

Possibility of co-authored research and papers.

Questions for discussion:
1) Discuss Translation Studies in the light of the two definitions of an
interdiscipline given above.
2) Some scholars in Translation Studies are worried that the increasing diversity of
research means that the discipline will explode. What is your opinion? Do you
think the discipline has to be unified in its goals and methods? Can too much
interdisciplinarity be dangerous?
3) You may already have a dissertation topic in mind. Will your topic require some
knowledge from fields outside Translation Studies?
Bibliography
Blackmore, Susan. 1999. The Meme Machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chesterman, Andrew. 1997. Memes of Translation. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Chesterman, Andrew. 2002. On the Interdisciplinarity of Translation Studies. Logos and
Language. 3(1): 1-9.
Connor, Ulla. 1996. Contrastive Rhetoric: Cross-cultural Aspects of Second-language Writing.
Cambridge/New York/Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
Duarte, Joo Ferreira, Alexandra Assis Rosa & Teresa Seruya (eds) 2006. Translation Studies at
the Interface of Disciplines. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Fuller, Steve. 2003. Interdisciplinarity: The loss of heroic vision in the marketplace of ideas.
http://www.interdisciplines.org/interdisciplinarity/papers/3
[accessed 20/02/2007]
Hyland, Ken. 2000. Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing. Harlow
etc.: Pearson Education.
Klein, Julie Thompson. 1990. Interdisciplinarity: History, Theory and Practice. Detroit, MI.:
Wayne State University Press.
Ross, Jonathan. (2007 unpublished conference paper) Translatological Turns? The Spread of
Ideas Beyond Translation Studies. Paper given at 5 th EST Congress, Ljubljana, Slovenia
September 2007.
Snell-Hornby,
Mary.
1988.
Translation
Studies:
An
Integrated
Approach.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Tymoczko, Maria. 2005. Trajectories of Research in Translation Studies. Meta 50 (4): 1082-1097.