Remerciez-le!

Remerciez @Admin pour avoir partagé cet document gratuitement, de la manière la plus simple, en partageant sur les réseaux sociaux.

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://ww

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349966401 Translators as publishers: exploring the motivations for non-proﬁt literary translation in a digital initiative Article in Meta · March 2020 DOI: 10.7202/1075845ar CITATION 1 READS 11 2 authors, including: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Digital Translations in the Making: Hong Kong Contemporary Fiction in Spanish View project Hong Kong and its Literature through a Double Lens: English and French Anthologies of Translated Literature View project Maialen Marin-Lacarta Hong Kong Baptist University 30 PUBLICATIONS 38 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Maialen Marin-Lacarta on 11 March 2021. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Meta LXV, 2, 2020 Translators as publishers: exploring the motivations for non-proﬁt literary translation in a digital initiative* maialen marin-lacarta Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong mmaialen@hkbu.edu.hk mireia vargas-urpí Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain mireia.vargas@uab.cat RÉSUMÉ Les motivations pour le bénévolat dans le contexte de la traduction littéraire profession- nelle ont rarement été étudiées. En effet, les études se sont principalement concentrées sur les motivations des traducteurs amateurs dans les domaines des associations cari- tatives, le fansubbing, TED, Wikipedia, Skype et Facebook. Cet article étudie les motiva- tions pour le bénévolat dans le contexte de ¡Hjckrrh !, une maison d’édition à but non lucratif gérée par des traducteurs qui autopublient des traductions littéraires sous forme de livres numériques. En mars 2018, ¡Hjckrrh ! avait publié vingt et un livres électroniques traduits à partir de sept langues, avec la collaboration de quatorze traducteurs. La plupart de ceux-ci sont des traducteurs professionnels expérimentés avec des emplois à temps plein. Fondé sur des entretiens semi-structurés approfondis avec quinze participants, cet article explore les motivations qui amènent ces traducteurs à collaborer à cette entre- prise et démontre l’utilité d’une méthodologie inspirée de l’ethnographie pour étudier les traducteurs. Les résultats montrent que traduire pour le plaisir ainsi que les relations personnelles sont des facteurs qui encouragent les traducteurs à participer volontaire- ment à ¡Hjckrrh !. Les conclusions soulignent quant à elles la nécessité de poursuivre les recherches sur des initiatives similaires de publication à but non lucratif. ABSTRACT Motivations for volunteering have rarely been studied in the context of professional liter- ary translators. Instead, studies have mainly focused on amateur translators in areas such as charities, fansubbing, TED, Wikipedia, Skype and Facebook. This paper explores this under-researched topic in the context of ¡Hjckrrh!, a non-proﬁt publisher led by translators who self-publish literary translations in e-book format. As of March 2018, ¡Hjckrrh! had issued 21 e-books translated from seven languages, with the collaboration of fourteen translators. Most of the translators are experienced professional translators with full-time jobs. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with ﬁfteen participants, this paper explores the translators’ motivations for collaborating on this initiative and shows how an ethnography-inspired methodology can be fruitful when studying translators. The outcomes reﬂect that translating for pleasure and personal relationships are factors that trigger translators’ voluntary participation in ¡Hjckrrh!, and the conclusions highlight the need for more research into similar non-proﬁt publishing initiatives. RESUMEN Son pocos los estudios que se centran en las motivaciones para el voluntariado en el contexto de la traducción literaria profesional. En cambio, hay más trabajos que estudian las motivaciones de traductores aﬁcionados en ámbitos como organizaciones benéﬁcas, Meta 65.2.MEP.indd 459 Meta 65.2.MEP.indd 459 2020-12-22 11:21 2020-12-22 11:21 460 Meta, LXV, 2, 2020 fansubbing, TED, Wikipedia, Skype y Facebook. Este artículo estudia las motivaciones para el voluntariado en el contexto de ¡Hjckrrh!, una editorial sin ﬁnes de lucro gestionada por traductores que autopublican traducciones literarias en formato de libro electrónico. En marzo de 2018, ¡Hjckrrh! había publicado veintiún libros electrónicos traducidos de siete idiomas, con la colaboración de catorce traductores. La mayoría de ellos son tra- ductores profesionales experimentados que trabajan a tiempo completo. A partir de entrevistas semiestructuradas en profundidad a quince participantes de ¡Hjckrrh!, este artículo explora las motivaciones de los traductores para colaborar con esta iniciativa y muestra la utilidad de una metodología inspirada en la etnografía para estudiar a traduc- tores. Los resultados reﬂejan que traducir por placer y las relaciones personales son factores que incitan a los traductores a participar de manera voluntaria en ¡Hjckrrh!, y las conclusiones destacan la necesidad de investigar más iniciativas similares de publi- cación sin ﬁnes de lucro. MOTS-CLÉS/KEYWORDS/PALABRAS CLAVE motivations, traduction bénévole, traduction numérique, traduction littéraire, autopubli- cation motivations, volunteer translation, digital translation, literary translation, self-publishing motivaciones, traducción voluntaria, traducción digital, traducción literaria, autopublica- ción 1. Introduction and background Free time can be considered a shared global resource, a social asset that can be used in collaboratively created projects. Shirky (2010) suggests the term “cognitive surplus” to refer to the aggregate of free time among the world’s educated population. Technological tools help us work together and share information, allowing us to harness this cognitive surplus. Accounts of how we do something with our cumula- tive surplus, and the motivations behind these initiatives, can help explain the appearance of new behaviours in society. Understanding what our cognitive surplus is making possible means under- standing the means by which we are aggregating our free time; our motivations in taking advantage of this new resource; and the nature of the opportunities that are being created, and that we are creating for each other. (Shirky 2010: 28) Following this trend, volunteer translation has become of increasing interest to translation scholars, and various studies have explored the motivations of present-day translators in diferent contexts such as humanitarian and charitable initiatives (Cavalitto 2012; O’Brien and Schäler 2010); fansubbing (Orrego-Carmona and Lee 2017, 87-114; 145-170); Wikipedia (McDonough Dolmaya 2012); TED (Olohan 2014; Cámara de la Fuente 2014); and other for-proft initiatives such as Facebook and Skype (Dombek 2014; Mesipuu 2012). In most cases, volunteer translation refers to non-professional or amateur translation, and fewer studies have explored volunteer professional translation. We have only found one study focusing on literary transla- tion and motivations; De Jong (1999) studied for-proft initiatives that portray pub- lishers as decision makers who control the literary translation industry. Other scholars who have studied the production process of literary translations only men- tion motivations in passing, such as Buzelin (2006) and Córdoba Serrano (2007). Tis paper contributes to research on motivation by focusing on this under-researched topic and explores professional book translators’ motivations for collaborating on a Meta 65.2.MEP.indd 460 Meta 65.2.MEP.indd 460 2020-12-22 11:21 2020-12-22 11:21 translators as publishers 461 digital publishing initiative. We understand motivations as reasons that stimulate volunteers to accept to participate. Te fndings provide insights into the relationships between collaboration, motivation and power. Power is here understood as one’s capacity to decide on aspects concerning the making of and publication of a transla- tion. Te difculty of accessing this type of data, and the fact that it is an initiative that does not have a strong impact on publishing trends (compared with big publish- ing conglomerates), means that this kind of initiative has rarely been studied. ¡Hjckrrh!1 is a non-proft digital publisher led by three translators who are involved in publishing literary translations in e-book format. Te e-books are pub- lished at low cost, and although the idea of sharing the profts of book sales is men- tioned, most of the translators also acknowledge that the work is voluntary and consider it a non-paid job because the profts until now have been limited and col- laborators have received no reimbursement. It can thus be considered a de facto non-proft initiative. Te motivations discussed in this article also show that proft is not one of the driving forces behind this publishing initiative. ¡Hjckrrh! is a self- publishing initiative and not a legally established publishing company. In fact, what these translators do is similar to what authors who self-publish their work do: afer completing the work, they upload it to Amazon, iTunes and Kobo. As of July 2018, ¡Hjckrrh! had issued 22 e-books translated from seven languages, and fourteen translators had collaborated in the making of these e-books. Most of the translators who collaborated in this initiative have published other books previously and can be considered experienced professional translators with full-time jobs. Te outcomes presented in this paper are part of a research project that has documented the mak- ing of two translations. ¡Hjckrrh!’s case is not unique; there are other non-proft digital literary transla- tion initiatives. For example, the journal Asymptote2 publishes world literature in English translation. Its chief editor is based in Taiwan and there are collaborators in diferent parts of the world. Paper Republic3 publishes short stories translated from Chinese into English, in addition to organising other activities such as reading events and publishing fellowships. China traducida y por traducir4 is a Spanish non-proft initiative led by three translators who publish Chinese literature translated into Spanish. Paper de vidre5 is a Catalan online literary initiative that publishes short stories, some originally written in Catalan and some translated from other languages. Tis article sheds light on the relatively recent phenomenon of publishing uploads/Management/ meta-translators-as-publishers.pdf