Vertimo studijos eISSN 2029-7033

2023, vol. 16, pp. 7–9

Translation Within the Intricate Tapestry of Ideologies, Cultures, and Viewpoints

The special issue of the journal Vertimo studijos / Studies in Translation is an outcome of an international conference, Translation, Ideology, Ethics: Response and Credibility, held on 22–24 September 2022 at Vilnius University. The conference was dedicated to the 25^th anniversary of the Department of Translation and Interpretation Studies within the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University.

The theme for discussion was prompted by concerns related to recent geopolitical changes, rapid advancements in communication technology, media’s intervention into domains that were once exclusive to domestic affairs, the global pursuit of information disseminated through social network—these factors have brought to the forefront issues about the dependability of translation and the trust placed in it. They have also underscored the vital responsibility carried by both translators and translation technologies and the pivotal role that translation and translators play in both the contemporary global landscape and more local contexts. Additionally, the project Translation and Censorship under Soviet Ideology in Lithuania (1940–1990),¹ currently undertaken by colleagues at the Institute for Literary, Cultural and Translation Studies, contributed to shaping this theme.

In the contemporary landscape, marked by escalating global processes fostering multicultural interaction, the exchange of ideas and multinational coordination, the imperative for translation has surged. Consequently, its significance is growing, respectively raising visibility of translation as mediation, along with the prominence of its practitioners. As translation, an inherently context-bound endeavour, operates within the intricate tapestry of ideologies, cultures, and viewpoints, its necessity arises from these multifaceted contexts. Thus, the translation process itself, its resultant creations, and the individuals driving it, all stand as both products of and influences on these contextual dynamics.

The intersections of ideologies, coupled with the ethical positions that translators have to adopt in response, have directed attention to the hazards associated with translation scenarios that transcend the text itself and directly impact the participants involved. These developments inevitably intersect with the field of Translation Studies, which, as astutely observed by Susan Bassnett and David Johnston, is inherently intertwined with the “issues alive in the perceptions and relationships of our world today.”² Therefore, the organisers invited academics and researchers to revisit the place, role, and impact of translation in the broad, dynamic social and multicultural communicational context, with a special emphasis on the ethical and ideological aspects of the discipline. At the conference papers were presented by researchers working in the fields of Ethics, Political Ideologies, Intercultural Relations, Semiotics, Psychoanalysis, Memory Studies, Discourse Analysis, Textual Criticism, Literary and Classical Studies, with a focus on translation.

In this context, the 13 papers and two interviews that comprise this volume address ever-important questions of how ideologies affect the field of translation (articles by Seyhan Bozkurt Jobanputra and Mehmet Zeki Giritli, Nataliia Rudnytska, Paulius V. Subačius, Karolina Butkuvienė and Lolita Petrulionė); how translation influences our positions and values, and form our images and perception of ourselves and others (Ayman S. Elbarbary, Sabrina Solange Ferrero); how the inquiry into translation is enriched by the multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary and supradisciplinary research (Anna Sverediuk, Mathilde Kamal-Girard); how we perceive history of translation and how the history of translation functions in the collective and individual memory (Antony Hoyte-West, Karin Sibul, Gaëtan Regniers, Andrejs Veisbergs and Gunta Ločmele); what skills should be acquired by translators and interpreters in a developing situation where they are no longer perceived as merely passive channels of transmission but assume a more active role as communication moderators and how these changes affect translator training (Carmen Torrella Gutiérrez and Francisco J. Vigier-Moreno).

The two interviews that we are pleased to present in this special issue continue the discussion on the changing focus and scope of Translation Studies that we started with the guests of our conference, Joss Moorkens, Nike Kocijančič Pokorn, and Elisabet Tiselius, in the previous issue of our journal. On one hand, Translation Studies nowadays shift their attention from the act of translation to the impact it makes and the power it holds, as seen in the conversation with Jorge Díaz-Cintas. Conversely, they invite us to delve into the history of translation through archival investigation, placing the act of translation within a broader historical and socio-political context, as explored in the conversation with Outi Paloposki. In this expanding horizon of research into translation, a particular emphasis is placed on a researcher’s self-awareness and responsibility.

As the editors of this issue, we are delighted to share with you our excitement in discovering new ideas and fresh approaches in Translation Studies, which vividly demonstrate its vitality, openness, and sensitivity to our political, socio-cultural, and interpersonal environment.

Nijolė Maskaliūnienė and Ingrida Tatolytė

Vilnius University