Investigating Real Work Situations in Translation Agencies. Work Content and Its Components

Authors

  • Anna Kuznik
  • Joan Miquel Verd

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.v23i44.128882

Abstract

The aim of this article1 is to analyze work content and its components in translation agencies. In the conceptual part of the article, we refer to concepts taken from the sociology of work and translation studies. In the analytical part, we use data produced by Stelmach in her study carried out in a small translation agency in Poland using the technique of self-observation (Stelmach 2000). The aim of Stelmach’s study was to record and analyze all the activities that form
part of the production process of a translation service. Because the observation was continual in time, it provided a complete list of all the activities carried out by the permanent staff occupying two internal jobs. Stelmach’s approach was quantitative and not focused on specifi c, translation-related work organization. In this article, we reinterpret these activities as the content of the work in translation-related internal positions, and compare it with Gouadec’s model of
translation service provision process (Gouadec 2002, 2005a, 2005b, 2007). The data analyzed show the importance of outsourcing in the everyday activity of translation agencies and (partly as a consequence of this outsourcing) the magnitude and importance of the management activities carried out by the staff.

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Published

2010-10-23

How to Cite

Kuznik, A., & Verd, J. M. . (2010). Investigating Real Work Situations in Translation Agencies. Work Content and Its Components. HERMES - Journal of Language and Communication in Business, 23(44), 25–43. https://doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.v23i44.128882

Issue

Section

THEMATIC SECTION: Processes in Text Production - Approaches and Methods