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The Public Image of Book Translators in the Digital Press

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Communication: Innovation & Quality

Part of the book series: Studies in Systems, Decision and Control ((SSDC,volume 154))

Abstract

Our work seeks to analyze how media coverage has approached the news regarding book translation in recent years. We study the discourse in the digital press starting from a quantitative assessment with the aim to analyze how the translator’s image is represented and how visible translators are. We ground our theory on Bourdieu’s concept of cultural, economic, social and symbolic capital (Bourdieu 1979, 1992). Thus, we take into consideration several aspects related to editorial and cultural policies. The starting point for our investigation are the findings made to date regarding the treatment of the figure of translators and interpreters. We note how the press hardly gives importance to book translators, despite the fact that translation is essential for the development of society.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All quotations are translations.

  2. 2.

    Cf. for further detail Francí Ventosa (2016).

  3. 3.

    This equals a decrease by 35.2% of the average turnover at constant prices (FGEE 2016: 58).

  4. 4.

    36.5% on average for the period 2008–2014 for the overall cultural sector.

  5. 5.

    Contribution to the GDP in the five-year period prior to the crisis, 2003–2007, is of 3% (MCU 2011).

  6. 6.

    Percentages calculated from CULTURABase statistics and MECD (2017) forecasts for 2016.

  7. 7.

    The large percentage of book translations in Spain is due precisely to the co-official status of Spain’s languages. Between 1996 and 2007, translations between such languages rose to 24.3% of total translations in 2007, though the following years the figures fell back to those of 1996 (18%). Percentages in 2006: 19.8; 2007: 24%; 2008: 18.5%, and in 2009 down to 17.4% (MECD 2010: 13 f.; Montero Küpper 2016).

  8. 8.

    The digital edition of the dailies: El País, El Mundo, ABC and La Razón.

  9. 9.

    We include the masculine and feminine form, as well as singular and plural. We exclude, however, the words: ‘interpreter’, ‘interpreting’, ‘translation’ and ‘translating’.

  10. 10.

    Law 23/2006, of July 7th, which modifies the recast text of the Law on Intellectual Property, adopted by Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996, of April 12th. This aspect is expounded in Luna Alonso (2016).

  11. 11.

    It is important to note that only now, on May, 24 2017, the United Nations recognises the role of professional translators and interpreters in connecting nations, and fostering peace, understanding and development. http://www.fit-ift.org/itd-adopted/?lang=fr.

  12. 12.

    Translated from Galician by Michael Skinner.

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Correspondence to Silvia Montero Küpper .

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Montero Küpper, S., Luna Alonso, A. (2019). The Public Image of Book Translators in the Digital Press. In: Túñez-López, M., Martínez-Fernández, VA., López-García, X., Rúas-Araújo, X., Campos-Freire, F. (eds) Communication: Innovation & Quality. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, vol 154. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91860-0_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91860-0_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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