Call for Abstracts

Contemporary translation is a highly technologized, networked activity. The last two decades have seen translation memory tools become standard, and Statistical Machine Translation in particular is now being integrated into many translation workflows. At the same time, translators have greater access to external digital and human resources than ever before: they can draw on vast online corpora and terminological holdings in the course of their work, and they can collaborate with remote colleagues or complete strangers on shared tasks. Text reuse and recycling have become commonplace, as has the collaborative production of translations by professionals and non-professionals alike.

These developments have raised a number of questions about how we view translation and translators, and how translators view themselves. The ongoing evolution of translation also means that we need new ways of understanding the cognitive processes involved in translation, a more expansive ethics of translation, and constant reappraisal of how and what we teach translators. Changing parameters in the production of translated texts demand that we investigate the effects of such changes on the reception of translated texts.

Translation Studies researchers from Humanities and Social Sciences backgrounds have addressed these and other questions from many perspectives, using different methodologies. Observational work-place and experimental research has attempted to capture and interpret data on how translators interact with tools and resources. Ethnographic methods have been used to allow translators to 'speak for themselves' in constructing a picture of the sociotechnical context in which they work. Corpus-based research has looked at how translation and translators are represented in key texts by significant stakeholders. Usability studies have sought to investigate what effects – if any – new modes of translation production have on users of translation. Philosophical work has questioned how digital technologies in particular are causing us to shift our understanding of what translation is.

The 2015 IATIS yearbook seeks to explore the rich variety of ways in which current Humanities and Social Science scholarship is dealing with the complex relationships between technology, translation, and the people who create and use translations. Papers addressing any of the areas mentioned above, using any appropriate methodology or theoretical framework, are welcome. While it is anticipated that many papers will deal with contemporary digital technologies, historical approaches to translation technology will also be welcome. Other (non-exhaustive) areas of possible interest include:

· Collaborative translation platforms for professional or non-professional translators

· TM and MT and their effects on the linguistic make-up of texts

· TM and MT and their effects on the cognitive, collaborative or social processes of translation

· the role of (free on-line) MT in foreign language learning

· the role of MT in translator training

· MT and the translation profession

· lingua francas, pivot languages, and MT

· human-computer interaction, language and translation

· the role of language/translation technologies in constructing linguistic landscapes

· the ethics of machine translation

We are now calling for 500-word abstracts for papers addressing the theme of the yearbook.

The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 01 August 2014.

Abstracts should be sent by email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with 'IATIS Yearbook' in the subject line.

Authors whose abstracts have been accepted will be notified by 31 August 2014, and asked to submit a paper of approx. 7,000 words by 30 November 2014.

Anticipated key dates follow:

Call for Abstracts: 07 May 2014

Deadline for receipt of abstracts: 01 August 2014

Acceptance of abstracts and invitation to submit full paper: 31 August 2014

Full papers to be submitted by: 30 November 2014

Feedback from peer reviewers to be received by authors: 31 January 2014

Authors to submit final version by: 28 February 2015

Publication: late 2015

The language of publication will be English, and authors whose papers have been accepted will be asked to follow the Routledge style guide.