Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools, translation memory, and literary translation

Abstract

The development of translation memory (TM) and commercial CAT tools aimed to enhance translator productivity, and it has been shown that CAT tools are particularly useful in the translation of texts that are repetitive, linguistically regular, and use predominantly short sentences. For these reasons, they have been widely assumed to be inappropriate for literary translation. This chapter challenges that assumption on the basis of evidence of changing attitudes among literary translators themselves and two case studies of literary translations undertaken by the authors using CAT tools. It is suggested that the benefits of CAT tools for literary translation lie less in the power of the TM to store and translate repetitive text than in the range of other features that can offer the translator new insights. In Youdale’s translation of a collection of contemporary Latin American micro-fiction, improved workflow, the ability to search both ST and TT in various ways, and convenient export formats are all highlighted as valuable features. Rothwell’s retranslation of a Zola novel shows how a ‘stereo’ reading of the ST through the lens of a prior translation can help a translator to situate their decisions in the historical afterlife of the original.