Ideology and translation

Stefan Baumgarten
Bangor University
Table of contents

The workings of power and ideology are the preconditions of language use. Consequently, translation, like any linguistic activity, shapes and is shaped by power relations and the individual and collective ideologies involved. Although ideology has been relevant to the study and practice of translation since time immemorial (cf. Fawcett's 1998 insightful historical account), its significance and pervasiveness in relation to translation has not always received its due recognition. Moreover, in Translation Studies, theoretical reflection on ideology as a concept by itself has been somewhat neglected in contrast to other fields in the humanities and social sciences. Ideology's pervasiveness in translation relates to the recognition that the recontextualisation of linguistic material involves negotiations about values and beliefs pertaining to the linguistic communities involved.

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