Complexity Thinking in Translation Studies Methodological Considerations

This volume highlights a range of perspectives on the ways in which complexity thinking might be applied in translation studies, focusing in particular on methods to achieve this. The book introduces the topic with a brief overview of the history and conceptualization of complexity thinking. The volume then frames complexity theory through a variety of lenses, including translation and society, interpreting studies, and Bible translation, to feature case studies in which complexity thinking has successfully been or might be applied within translation studies. Using complexity thinking in translation studies as a jumping off point from which to consider the broader implications of implementing quantitative approaches in qualitative research in the humanities, this volume is key reading for graduate students and scholars in translation studies, cultural studies, semiotics, and development studies.

1. IntroductionKobus Marais and Reine Meylaerts2. Intersemiotic translation as an abductive cognitive artifactJoão Queiroz and Pedro Atã 3. Resonances between social narrative theory and complexity theory: A potentially rich methodology for translation studiesSue-Ann Harding4. "Effects causing effects": Considering constraints in translationKobus Marais5. On the multidimensional interpreter and a theory of possibility: Towards the implementation of a complex methodology in interpreter trainingManuel de la Cruz Recio6. Exploring the social complexity of translation with assemblage thinkingEmma Seddon7. Translator networks of networks in digital space: The case of Asymptote JournalRaluca Tanasescu and Chris Tanasescu8. A complex and transdisciplinary approach to slow collaborative activist translationRaúl E. Colón Rodríguez9. Sacred writings and their translations as complex phenomena: The book of Ben Sira in the Septuagint as a case in pointJacobus Naude and Cynthia Miller-Naude10. The complexity of Iran’s literary polysystem: An interdisciplinary studyNasrin Ashrafi11.Translation as organized complexity: Implications for translation theoryMaria Tymoczko12. Knowledge translation and the continuum of scienceCaroline Mangerel

Kobus Marais is professor of translation studies in the Department of Linguistics and Language practice of University of the Free State. He has published Translation theory and development studies: A complexity theory approach (2014), A (bio)semiotic theory of translation: The emergence of social-cultural reality (2018), and Translation studies beyond the postcolony (2017; co-edited with Ilse Feinauer).Reine Meylaerts is full professor of comparative literature and translation studies at KU Leuven. Currently she is vice-rector of research policy (2017-2021). She was director of CETRA from 2006-2014 and is now board member. She is the author of numerous articles and chapters on these topics (https://lirias.kuleuven.be/items-by-author?author=Meylaerts%2C+Reinhilde%3B+U0031976)