On the cross-disciplinary conundrum: The conceptualization of translation in translation and journalism studies

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the difficulties that the divergent conceptualizations of translation in journalism and translation studies pose to conduct inter-disciplinary research into the role of translation practices in journalistic production. It is divided into four sections that review four concepts, namely domestication (in connection with localization), transediting, gatekeeping and convergence. The first two have been widely discussed in translation studies in relation to a variety of genres, while the latter have been central to journalism studies research. The article also discusses the usefulness of these four concepts for the study of journalistic translation practices from the perspective of both translation and journalism studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Journalistic translation
• domestication
• transediting
• gatekeeping
• convergence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A search in Benjamins’ Translation Studies Bibliography shows that of the 40 records for transediting in the database, 36 analyze news translation.

 

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roberto A. Valdeón

Roberto A. Valdeón is full professor in English Studies and Translation at the University of Oviedo, honorary professor at South China Business College (SCBC), research associate at the University of the Free State, and a member of the Academia Europaea. He is Editor-in-Chief of Perspectives – Studies in Translation Theory and Practice and General Editor of the Benjamins Translation Library. He is the author of Translation and the Spanish Empire in the Americas (2014), and has co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Spanish Translation Studies (2019) among other books. He has edited a special issue of Journalism (2022).