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16 - Translating Technical Texts

from Part IV - Translation in Practice: Factual Genres

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2022

By
Maeve Olohan
Edited by
Kirsten Malmkjær
Kirsten Malmkjær
Affiliation:
University of Leicester
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Summary

Given the problematic concept of ‘text’ in the context of technical content, and of what is ‘technical’, Chapter 16 focuses on practices in which technical content figures. Technical translation is closely connected to technical authoring, and the two activities share some of the materials that are used, the competences that are required, the motivations that drive them, and their ultimate purposes of producing technical content that will enable users to achieve their goals. Drawing on work in genre analysis, the chapter suggests that it would be useful for translation studies to research professional contexts in which translated technical content is focal, for example, software development and industrial manufacturing, in laboratories and research centres, and in diverse installation and operation settings.

Keywords

Textcontenttechnical translationauthoringcompetencessoftware developmentindustrial manufacturing
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Translation , pp. 321 - 339
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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