Network Nature of Translation Constellations: Translation Department at a Regional Commercial Enterprise

Abstract

This article presents an exploratory study conducted using functional and sociocognitive approaches in light of the “material turn” in Translation Studies. It provides a review of works that apply actor-network theory (ANT) and the concept of distributed cognition to the study of translation activities. It also explores the possibility of adopting in translation research the data collection, processing and visualization techniques developed to describe activities in hybrid environments combining face-to-face and mediated interaction. The authors discuss a way of including the artifacts in the translation situation model, following the positions of ANT, visual net-work analysis, and M. Zwilling’s concept of a translational constellation. The objective of the paper is to evaluate a complex method-ology aimed at describing translators’ work-place conditions and their network interactions in a realistic way. The study is based on a semi-structured interview (120 min) with a representative of the translation department at a commercial enterprise in Chelyabinsk, Russia. It shows how specific tasks are performed in a distributed cognitive network, what role is played by such artifacts as a server solution, a terminology database, and email; and how the translation commissioners’ intention can be distributed in a network of interconnected entities.