Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications

by Jeremy Munday

Introducing Translation Studies remains the definitive guide to the theories and concepts that make up the field of translation studies. Providing an accessible and up-to-date overview, it has long been the essential textbook on courses worldwide. This fourth edition has been fully revised and continues to provide a balanced and detailed guide to the theoretical landscape. Each theory is applied to a wide range of languages, including Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Punjabi, Portuguese and Spanish. A broad spectrum of texts is analysed, including the Bible, Buddhist sutras, Beowulf , the fiction of García Márquez and Proust, European Union and UNESCO documents, a range of contemporary films, a travel brochure, a children’s cookery book and the translations of Harry Potter . Each chapter comprises an introduction outlining the translation theory or theories, illustrative texts with translations, case studies, a chapter summary and discussion points and exercises. NEW FEATURES IN THIS FOURTH EDITION This is a practical, user-friendly textbook ideal for students and researchers on courses in Translation and Translation Studies.

Genres: Nonfiction, Linguistics, Language, Academic, Textbooks, Reference, College

376 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Jeremy Munday is Professor of Translation Studies at the University of Leeds, UK. His specialisms are: linguistic translation theories, discourse analysis, ideology and translation, and Latin American literature in translation. He is author of Introducing Translation Studies (Routledge, 4th edition, 2016) and Evaluation in Translatio (Routledge, 2012).

Reviews

[Imme [trying to crawl out of hiatus] van Gorp · Rating 2 out of 5]

|| 2.0 stars ||

It’s very heavy on the theories, but not so useful for the actual application.

This book will surely give you plenty of insights into the history of the field, but I seriously doubt it would be helpful for a practicing (or aspiring) translator.

It just lists a whole bunch of theories that all basically explain the same thing over and over again, with the only difference being that they all use separate names for the same damn concept.
It felt very repetitive, and, dare I say, useless at times.

[عباد ديرانية · Rating 5 out of 5]

أعطتني أستاذتي في الجامعة نسخةً من هذا الكتاب قبل سنة وبضعة شهور، وقد استصعبتُ إكماله لأنه يجبُ أن يقرأ دفعة واحدة (وقد انقطعتُ عنه فترة واضطررتُ لأن أعيد قراءة نصفه تقريباً) لكني سعيدٌ جداً بإتمامه. يجمعُ هذا الكتاب كُلّ دراسة وبحث وكتاب مهمّ وُضِعَ في نظرية الترجمة منذ فجر حضارة الإنسان وحتى لحظة نشره، قبل عشر سنوات تقريباً، فهو لا يكادُ يغفل أيَّ جانبٍ منها رغم قصره النسبي، إذ لا يتجاوزُ طوله 200 صفحة، ولذلك فإنه من أكثر الكتب التي تُوظَّف في محاضرات الترجمة بالجامعات العالمية، وقد كان مرجعاً ممتازاً لي لاهتمامي الحالي بهذا المجال.

على عكسِ معظم مجالات العلوم الطبيعية والإنسانية، تعتبرُ الترجمة جديدةً نسبياً، فقد بدأ الأكاديميون بالاهتمام بها كمجال للبحث والدراسة في منتصف القرن الماضي فقط، ولذلك فإنَّ ما وُضِعَ من أدبيات فيها يبقى قليلاً نسبياً وسهلَ الحصر. ولعل أوضح مثالٍ على ذلك هو أني قرأتُ في هذا الكتاب، وهو ليس طويلاً أبداً، عن اثنين من الأكاديميين الذين استشهدتُ بأعمالهم في مشروع "كتابة بحثية" للجامعة عملتُ عليه قبل نصف سنة تقريباً، وهو ما أشعرني بأني أصبحتُ ملماً حقاً بهذا المجال بعد إنهاء الكتاب.

هذا الكتاب ليس مخصصاً للقرَّاء الذين يحبّون الاطلاع، بل هو كتاب أكاديمي صرفٌ يسيرُ بتسلسل منهجي مملّ بعض الشيء، على أنَّ لغته ليست صعبة وأظنّه سهل القراءة غير المتخصّصين. يبدأ المؤلف (في الفصل الأول) بالحديث عن تاريخ نظريات الترجمة قبل القرن العشرين، والتي لا يهملُ منها شيئاً: فهو يذكرُ اليونان والرومان والصينيين والهنود والعرب المسلمين، ويتحدث -باختصار- عن مناهجهم وطرائقهم في الترجمة. بعد ذلك، يسيرُ المؤلّف زمنياً على الأبحاث والنظريات المؤثّرة في الترجمة على مرّ المائة عامٍ الماضية، بدءاً من نظرية "المقابلة اللغوية" إلى الترجمة الوظيفية (أو "نظرية السكوبوس")، بل ويتحدَّث في نهاية الكتاب عن ترجمة الأفلام والمسلسلات وألعاب الفيديو.

قراءة سهلة جداً وممتازة لمن يرغبُ بالاطلاع -أكاديمياً- على نظرية الترجمة، وله إصدارات مُحدَّثة وجديدة يُضَاف إليها كُلّ ما يطرأ على هذا المجال من تغييرات.

[Marijana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid introduction to various theories pertaining to the field of translation studies and related disciplines. The book offers an introduction to and short explanation of different translation theories in the chronological order and grouped together according to the time period and ideology. To many language students this was an obligatory read, and it served me as a source for my master thesis. I would recommend it as a short theoretical introduction to anyone interested in linguistics and translation.

[Camila Minotti · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ver, que tiene sus cosas interesantes las tiene...
Pero qué necesidad tienen 200 autores de debatir si la traducción tiene que ser literal o no, cuando todos llegan a la misma conclusión.
Hay que estar al pedo para seguir debatiendo algo que se preguntan los filósofos desde la primera traducción oficial de la biblia. Además, a este punto, me parece ridículo seguir creando modelos para analizar la equivalencia, cuando la conclusión siempre es: funciona en teoría, pero no es aplicable a la práctica. ¡¿Cuál es tu punto entonces, Nida?!
Lo único que comprueba este libro es que los seres humanos tenemos una necesidad casi física de darle explicación a todo, pero que es imposible obtenerla (repito: desde la tradu de la biblia que debatimos si es sense-for-sense o word-for-word). Pero como opinar es gratis y les gusta criticarse entre sí, vamos a leer el libro como el chismecito del lunes.
En mi cabeza, Newman y Arnold se odian a muerte y se batieron a duelo para comprobar quién tenía razón (pues, época del romanticismo): si convenía traducir a Homero tal cual en su forma arcaica o modernizar el texto. Llegó Bassnet y les dijo: "Muchachos, detengan la pelea, vengo del futuro y esto lo único que va a causar es una actitud elitista que va a repercutir en la devaluación de la traducción y la decadencia de la educación británica; además de que Camila va a tener que dar una presentación oral sobre esto y les va a querer pegar un tiro entre ceja y ceja."

O algo así pasó, detalles más, detalles menos. Wish me good luck para el final del miércoles.

[therouge91 · Rating 2 out of 5]

FUCK YOU DOUGLAS

[Mohade$eh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book to know general and basic stuff about Translation Studies. I really recommend reading it before any other sources

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well structured, easy to understand, and does a great job of pointing readers to tons of related literature.

Downsides: I found the style somewhat boring, and the paper it's printed on is horrible. The paper is so shiny that unless you sit in light too low to read, a big, white, reflective band slices down the page obscuring a swath of words. No matter how you turn the book in the light, the band just moves back and forth across the page. I had to keep twisting the book around constantly to try to make out the words as I read. Probably the most physically unpleasant reading experience I have ever had.

[Cecilie Larsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author takes the subject waaaay to serious to a point where it almost becomes comical e.g. when he laments over translation being a subsection of language studies and tries >s>and fails inceredibly to convince the reader that it's supposed to be a study all in its own.
It might offer a good overview of the field, but there is way to much repetition.

[Anna Hiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous introduction to translation studies that is concise, well-written, and comprehensive. For those just starting out with translation studies that want a good historical grounding, I would recommend buying this book and reading it *thoroughly* before venturing into primary sources.

[Mugren Ohaly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book that compiles a lot of different theories and practices regarding translation and translation studies. Highly recommended.

[Mahsa Mahi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book last year and found it incredibly helpful in understanding key translation theories. It offers a clear structure, accessible language, and a solid foundation for anyone entering the field. Highly recommended for students and early-stage researchers in Translation Studies.

[*· bell ๋࣭ ⭑☽ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nunca leí algo tan denso. Hay poca probabilidad de aplicar las teorías en vida real y repite lo mismo veinte millones de veces, leer este libro fue una pérdida de tiempo durante toda la cursada.

[niina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't read this book completely nor did I do it voluntarily; this is one of the books local university requires us to read for our entrance examination. Nevertheless, the chapters that I went through felt a bit too overlapping at places, it was like I made no process at all. A lot of names and dates were mentioned, most of them I've already forgotten, though they were dealt with praiseworthily. I feel like the book covered what its title promises; it introduced translation studies. For me this particular introducion was way too long and way too dull.

[Miriam · Rating 2 out of 5]

VERY DENSE. If you already possess some background knowledge about translation theory this will provide a good guide in order to remember everything. But if you don't, you'll probably get lost through the tons of excercises, tables, extra information and ever-changing lay out. Munday likes diagrams A LOT. Perhaps I will see this book in a different light when exams are over. I seem to have developed unsympathetic feelings towards this one for now...

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books is probably more useful for new students in the field but as someone merely interested in the subject I found this book to be a great resource for explaining the current issues surrounding translation and interpretation with tonnes of examples and many references for further reading.

[Sara Al-Dawood · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is simple: every translator should read this book.

[Giulia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sicuramente più horror dei più grandi romanzi gotici dell'800

[Michu · Rating 1 out of 5]

es un abuso del paraphrasing. son 500 personas hablando de los mismos 3 conceptos en diferentes palabras y sin llegar a ninguna conclusión. encima es ILEGIBLE, por favor aprendan a redactar antes de escribir.

[Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

(skipped chapters 2-10-11 but I'm still going to count this as finished because I read the rest of them)

Great introductory book to TS

[Ahlam Assayyed · Rating 5 out of 5]

كيف يمكنني تحميل الكتاب اونلاين او قراءتهُ من هنا؟

[Paul, · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice introduction. The author does a pretty okay job of sketching out the developments in the history of translation studies. He doesn't do well at delineating the differences between different eras and terminologies. These are very nuanced discussions, so perhaps that is understandable. The last several chapters I just skimmed the topics because the field of translation studies has gone in (mutually contradictory) directions that kind of undermine the word translation and that I don't care about - in other words, translating with an agenda. Deconstructionist, feminist, whatever. The earlier discussions assumed that the purpose of translation was that the meaning of the author was worth having in other languages. Discussions around reader-centered or text-centered, dynamic or formal equivalence, cultural location, were all important and relevant. The new discussions locate meaning in the translator and the act of translation, not the source text, and go to a lot of different places as a result.

[Wesley Gerrard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahead of embarking upon a Translation (BA) at Cardiff University, I thought I'd prepare by investigating one of the course textbooks. This introduction to Translation Studies was a revelation in how it introduced me to the new terminology I will be working with. I initially found the introduction of new models and ways of thinking a little daunting, but by the end of chapter twelve I felt that I was making progress in understanding the general gists of translation studies. The chapter on machine translation was the most appealing to me and I see this as an area in which I might specialise. The case studies at the end of each chapter were particularly thought-provoking and useful in allowing you to grasp the concepts at discussion in each chapter. I felt that this book was an ideal way to anticipate my future degree and I look forward to referring back to this text as my studies progress.

[Mizumi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though it was very interesting, it was a bit hard to get through at places, just by the way certain sentences were phrased. Otherwise, my rating would have been higher; 3(.5) stars is solely for readability.
I love the variation it provides in its examples, and I love their analysis. My class thought it a problem that the conclusions mostly are 'we can't really give you rules, just tell you what other people do', which I actually find very useful. It's incredibly hard to say you have to conform to exact rules in something as complicated as translating (literary) text: it always depends on the text you're translating. This book basically gives you examples and teaches you how other people think about translation.

[Jorge Luis Díaz Marure · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book provides a very easy-to-use source of information for students interested in Translation research, as well as to be introduced to the history of Translation. The book is easy to understand and provides good examples which illustrate each of the theories analysed in a practical manner.

I highly recommend it, although I think this book can be better exploited under proper guidance and in a controlled environment with a teacher able to guide students through each of the topics included.

[Omama Othman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book because it is one of the textbooks for a translation course at university. For me, it is a helpful guide as a translation student. However, you do not have to be specializing in translation to read it. If you are interested in knowing the specific theory -or theories- your favorite translators are following, or if you simply want to review and judge the success of translation in translated books professionally and justly -and a lot of readers do not-: this book is for you.

[Omama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book because it is one of the textbooks for a translation course at university. For me, it is a helpful guide as a translation student. However, you do not have to be specializing in translation to read it. If you are interested in knowing the specific theory -or theories- your favorite translators are following, or if you simply want to review and judge the success of translation in translated books professionally and justly -and a lot of readers do not-: this book is for you.

[Truong Tang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good entry level book for learners in linguistics and translation.

[Reza Abbaszadeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complete book for the students of translation studies. I just cannot get enough of it. I've already read it 4 times! :)

[Anthony Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incorrigible introduction to the field

This is the latest edition of a useful guide and introduction to the field of translation studies. The authors do a good job of not simply presenting theories and theorists, but showing the development and interconnectedness these ideas. There is no better place to start (with the possible exception of Pym’s Exploring Translation Theories; the two should really be read together). Munday et all, however, go a step beyond Pym in introducing the field of Translation Studies and even guiding student research in TS. Fantastic textbook.

[Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not beginner friendly at all. It made me bored since it was repetitive. It's very heavy on theories, and I feel like you should have an idea about them before reading this book. Recommended for people who know stuff about translation studies. Not recommended for beginners.