The role that emotions play in the practice of translating and interpreting has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Already in 1996, Jääskeläinen observed that affective variables, be they personal involvement, commitment, motivation, or attitude, may impact translational behaviour. It is only relatively recently, however, that scholars have begun to explore the myriad ways that the translation process and product can be influenced by the presence of affect, the term used in psychology to refer to emotions that influence one’s thinking and actions. Following the affective turn in the field of psychology (e.g. Damasio 2003; Gendron and Barrett 2009; Sander and Scherer 2009), Translation Studies can be said to have trodden a similar path, with a number of recent publications addressing this topic albeit focusing on multiple genres and practices, and applying different perspectives, approaches, and methodologies: empirical, narrative, textual, and theoretical, to name but a few. This multiplicity of approaches to the study of emotions and translation is enriching and reflected in the diverse nature of the contributions of this online symposium.

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