VÎLCEANU TITELA. 2017. Dynamic Interfaces of Translation, Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication . Craiova: Editura

The word translation comes from the Latin verb transducere meaning to carry over. Through translation, a source language message is rendered into a target language one. Translation refers to both the process and the product, being usually associated with written messages. For the translation of spoken messages, the term interpreting is preferred (Hatim & Munday 2004; McGuire 1980; Shulltleworth & Cowie 1997). The quality of the translation, be it written or oral, depends on the analytical analysis performed on the source language message, taking into account the grammatical, semantic, pragmatic and cultural factors that contribute to the message understanding as well as on the translator’s proficiency in the two languages used, his/her background and professional knowledge (Bassnett & Lefevere 2000; Șimon 2017; Șimon & Stoian 2017; Vîlceanu 2017a; Wilss 1982). In the translation process, the translator faces several dilemmas that need to be solved through his/her choices, which are not always easily made, and which, in the end, influence the quality of the target message. In time, these challenges have raised the translators’ awareness of the translation process complexity and dynamics and have contributed to the emergence of the new discipline of Translation Studies (Dejica 2014; Munday 2012; Venuti 2013). Dynamic Interfaces of Translation, Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication by Titela Vîlceanu highlights the birth and growth of Translation Studies as an interface between many other disciplines, particularly Pragmatics and


Book review
Simona ȘIMON  The word translation comes from the Latin verb transducere meaning to carry over. Through translation, a source language message is rendered into a target language one. Translation refers to both the process and the product, being usually associated with written messages. For the translation of spoken messages, the term interpreting is preferred ( Intercultural Communication. The book is divided into two parts, 'Chartering Translation and Translation Studies' and 'Mapping the Translator's Competence, Translatorship and Beyond', dealing with topics such as the rise of Translation Studies as a (trans)discipline and its relationship with other disciplines, on the one hand, and the language industry and the educational background of a professional translator, on the other.
The first part begins with a short history of the Translation Studies. The author presents the four main periods described by Steiner (1975Steiner ( /1998 as cited in Vîlceanu 2017b: 12ff.), to which she adds a fifth one. The first period lasted from Ancient Times to 1791 when Tytler's "Essays on the Principles of Translation" appeared. It was characterised by an empirical approach to translation. In the second period, spanning from 1791 to 1946 when Larbaud's "Sous l'invocation de St. Jerome" was published, the framework was established within which the metalanguage and methodology of the rising discipline was created, being mostly influenced by hermeneutics. The third period started in the 1940s and continued until the 1960s. It was a period in which emphasis was laid on machine translation, structural linguistics and communication sciences. The fourth period identified by Steiner ran from the 1960s until the 1970s. It was a time in which the development of the Translation Studies was determined by the inputs received from other disciplines such as hermeneutics, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, rhetoric, to mention but a few. Vîlceanu adds one more period to Steiner's timeline, namely the one spanning from the 1970s to the present day, a period characterised by the increasing digitalisation of the entire society, including of the translation field. Thus, the author highlights some of the most important landmarks in the history of the Translation Studies, considering their contribution both in the aforementioned periods and to the shaping of the new discipline.
The first part of the book continues with an overview of the relationship established between Translation Studies, and Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication, respectively. Vîlceanu (2017b: 82) stresses that pragmatics is a "blanket term for all kinds of research focused on language and its use in context". Adopting this holistic approach, the author presents the three research directions in the field of Pragmatics, namely the linguistic-philosophical, the sociocultural-interactional and, more recently, the intercultural ones. Moreover, she points to the link existing between Pragmatics and Translation Studies, stressing that the literature dealing with it is quite scarce. Thus, Vîlceanu argues that the acquisition of the fundamental notions of Pragmatics are of paramount importance to the translator in the translation process, as they help him/her better understand the context and as such the meaning in context. In her view, translation theorists should focus more on the "pragmatic resources and [...] the new forms of communication" (Vîlceanu 2017b: 88).
Besides paying attention to the pragmatic factors, the translator should be aware of the cultural peculiarities that influence the message transmission and understanding in a particular context. The author distinguishes between intercultural communication and cross-cultural communication, the first one refers to the social interaction between members of different cultures, while the second one to the social interaction between members of the same culture. In today's globalised world, developing intercultural communicative competence is essential not only to the professional translator, but to the entire humankind as it contributes to an efficient communication in a variety of contexts. So, the author stresses that, in order to acquire intercultural competence, one should develop linguistic proficiency, intercultural literacy, (meta)cognitive flexibility, psychological adequacy, inter-and intra-personal dynamics skills (Vîlceanu 2008(Vîlceanu /2011. as cited in Vîlceanu 2017b: 93). Considering all this, Vîlceanu adopts the stance taken by other scholars as well, namely the translator should be both a communicator and a cultural mediator, in other words a "cultural operator" (Hewson & Martin 1991: 133 as cited in Vîlceanu 2017b: 96). So, the first part of the book is a plea in favour of reconsidering the status of Translation Studies within the humanities as an "interdiscipline", "poly-discipline", "postdiscipline" (Genzler 2017 as cited in Vîlceanu 2017b: 101) or even "trans-discipline" (Vîlceanu 2017b: 11).
The position of Translation Studies in the contemporary world has been strengthened by globalisation because, for various reasons, the latter one has favoured the contact between peoples and cultures, and consequently the need for translation has increased (Shiyab, Rose, House & Duval 2010). Thus, in order to fulfil this need, more and more emphasis has been laid on the language industry and on the translators' training. Therefore, in the second part of Dynamic Interfaces of Translation, Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication by Titela Vîlceanu, the focus moves from 'theory' to 'practice', i.e. from the conceptualisation of Translation Studies to the presentation of the ones that put the theoretical framework into practice, namely the translators who need to be trained thoroughly in order to work efficiently and professionally in the language industry.
The translators and interpreters (i.e. translators of oral messages) may work either as freelancers or as employees in a translation agency, translation centre or department of a multinational company. They are considered language service providers who may resort to technology in order to exercise their professional activity, and, most often, need "to secure a revenue and have a visible market activity" (Vîlceanu 2017b: 107). The author presents the statistical data provided by the Language Services Market database and CSA Research (formerly known as Common Sense Advisory) platform, drawing conclusions in terms of the size, concerns, trust, perceptions and expectations of the global translation market. Moreover, the author highlights that working as a translator may also involve fulfilling professional duties that are not included in the translator's job description, but are typical of other positions such as: localiser, reviser, reviewer, post-editor, translation team lead, project manager, production manager, quality manager, terminologist, linguistic engineer, technology specialist, account manager, sales representative, etc. Therefore, professional translator training should aim at providing comprehensive knowledge and experience in various fields besides Translation Studies in order to develop the skills needed to meet the professional requirements of the labour market.
Vîlceanu introduces then the reader to the knowledge and expertise shared by scholars and translators with respect to the competence(s) of a professional translator. For example, Delisle (1980: 235 as cited in Vîlceanu 2017b: 125) lists the competences that should be achieved by a translator: linguistic competence, encyclopaedic competence, comprehension competence and reformulation competence. To comprise them all, Vîlceanu (2017b: 125) proposes the superordinate term 'translator competence'. Moreover, the author emphasises that the academic translation programmes should focus on generating and transferring knowledge, on developing interdisciplinary, self-learning, critical and creative skills, on raising awareness of professional ethics and best practices. Vîlceanu also shows that, apart from the common core adopted by most academic translation programmes across the world, their curricula may vary from country to country due to historical, socio-economic and cultural factors.
In conclusion, Dynamic Interfaces of Translation, Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication by Titela Vîlceanu investigates the realm of Translation Studies from an inter-and multidisciplinary perspective, offering both retrospective and prospective standpoints. The book is therefore a valuable resource for students, instructors, translators and all those interested in the field of Translation Studies.