Cover not available

In:Reembedding Translation Process Research
Edited by Ricardo Muñoz Martín
[Benjamins Translation Library 128] 2016
► pp. 47–68

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Writing vs. translating

dimensions of text production in comparison

ORCiD logo with link | Department of Translation Studies, University of Graz
 | Department of Translation Studies, University of Graz
 | Department of Translation Studies, University of Graz
Published online: 3 October 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.128.03ris
The tasks of writing and translation show several similarities in the challenges they pose and the processes they include. In translation studies, the fuzzy edges between these tasks have been studied in many ways. To compare the processes of writing and translating in the field, we observed a freelance translator in the workplace for two working days (1 day of writing, 1 day of translating) and interviewed her on her work processes. We analysed the data with regard to the process phases, strategies, contextual features, and creativity dimensions of text production (Dam-Jensen and Heine 2013). In addition to the many similarities in the processes, our findings also show substantial differences in the text production dimensions.
References (79)
References
Abdallah, Kristiina. 2008. “Why Do We Experience Quality-related Problems in Production Networks? Reconstructing an Actor-Network in the Subtitling Industry.” In XXVIII FIT World Congress Proceedings/Actes 4–7.8.2008. Translation and Cultural Diversity. Shanghai, China, ed. by Translation Association of China. Shanghai: Foreign Language Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. “Translators’ Agency in Production Networks.” In Translators’ Agency, ed. by T. Kinnunen and K. Koskinen, 11–46. Tampere: Tampere University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Angelone, Erik. 2010. “Uncertainty, Uncertainty Management and Metacognitive Problem Solving in the Translation task.” In Translation and Cognition, ed. by G.M. Shreve and E. Angelone, 17–40. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Asare, Edmund. 2011. An Ethnographic Study of the Use of Translation Tools in a Translation Agency. Implications for Translation Tool Design. PhD diss., Kent State University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baur, Wolfram, Sylvia Kalina, Jutta Witzel, and Felix Mayer (eds). 2009. Übersetzen in die Zukunft. Herausforderungen der Globalisierung für Dolmetscher und Übersetzer. Berlin: Bundesverband der Dolmetscher und Übersetzer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Becker-Mrotzeck, Michael. 1997. Schreibentwicklung und Textproduktion. Der Erwerb der Schreibfertigkeit am Beispiel der Bedienungsanleitung. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benjamin, Walter. 1923/2004. “The Task of the Translator.” In The Translation Studies Reader, ed. by L. Venuti, 15–22. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bereiter, Carl, and Marlene Scardamalia. 1987. The Psychology of Written Composition. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bosserhoff, Ria. 2005. “Schreiben in der B2B-Kommunikation. Vorgehensweise in der Schreibpraxis einer Werbeagentur.” In Schreiben am Arbeitsplatz, ed. by E. Jakobs, K. Lehnen, and K. Schindler, 93–108. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buzelin, Hélène. 2005. “Unexpected Allies: How Latour’s Network Theory Could Complement Bourdieusian Analyses in Translation Studies.” The Translator 11 (2): 193–218. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. “Independent Publisher in the Networks of Translation.” TTR 19 (1): 135–173. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Byrne, Jody. 2013. “Seeing the Wood for the Trees: Reassessing Research Agendas in Specialized Translation.” Connexions 1 (1): 55–58.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clark, Andy. 1997. Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chesterman, Andrew. 2000. “Memetics and Translation Strategies.” Synaps 5: 1–17, [URL]. [15 April 2016]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. “Problems with Strategies.” In New Trends in Translation Studies, ed. by K. Károly and Á. Fóris, 17–28. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. “Reflections on the Literal Translation Hypothesis.” In Methods and Strategies of Process Research. Integrative Approaches in Translation Studies, ed. by C. Alvstad, A. Hild, and E. Tiselius, 23–36. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. 1997. Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dam-Jensen, Helle, and Carmen Heine. 2013. “Writing and Translation Process Research: Bridging the Gap.” Journal of Writing Research 5 (1): 89–101. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Doloughan, Fiona, and Margaret Rogers. 2006. “Mediation and Regulation of Textual Space: The Role of Creative Writing in Translator Training.” In Translation and Creativity: How Creative is the Translator? ed. by I. Kemble and C. O’Sullivan, 34–43. Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eco, Umberto. 2003. Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen. 2014. “Challenges of Translation Process Research at the Workplace.” In Minding Translation. Con la traducción en mente, MonTI Special Issue 1, ed. by R. Muñoz, 355–383. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fix, Martin. 2008. Texte schreiben. Schreibprozesse im Deutschunterricht. Paderborn: Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flower, Linda, and Hayes, John. 1981. “A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing.” College Composition and Communication 32 (4): 365–387. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gambier, Yves. 2010. “Translation Strategies and Tactics.” In Handbook of Translation Studies. Volume 1, ed. by Y. Gambier and L. Van Doorslaer, 412–418. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gläser, Jochen, and Grit Laudel. 2010. Experteninterviews und Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gouadec, Daniel. 2007. Translation as a Profession. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Göpferich, Susanne. 1996. “(Fach)Übersetzen vs. Technical Writing: Parallelen und Unterschiede.” In Multilingualism in Specialist Communication. Proceedings of the 10th European LSP Symposium, Vienna, 29.8.–1.9.1995, ed. by G. Budin, 399–434. Wien: International Network of Terminology.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guilford, Joy Paul. 1950. “Creativity.” American Psychologist 5 (9), 444–454. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hayes, John. 1996. “A New Framework for Understanding Cognition and Affect in Writing.” In The Science of Writing: Theories, Methods, Individual Differences, and Applications, ed. by M. Levy and S. Ransdell, 1–27. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hönig, Hans G. 1995. Konstruktives Übersetzen. Tübingen: Stauffenburg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Konstruktives Übersetzen (3rd edition). Tübingen: Stauffenburg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holz-Mänttäri, Justa. 1984. Translatorisches Handeln. Theorie und Methode. Helsinki: Annales Academiae Scientarum Fennicae.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jakobson, Roman. 1959. “On Linguistic Aspects of Translation.” In On Translation, ed. by R.A. Brower, 232–239. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jakobs, Eva-Maria. 2005. “Writing at Work. Fragen, Methoden und Perspektiven einer Forschungsrichtung.” In Schreiben am Arbeitsplatz, ed. by E. Jakobs, K. Lehnen, and K. Schindler, 13–40. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jääskeläinen, Riitta. 1989. “Translation Assignment in Professional vs. Non-professional Translation: A Think-aloud Protocol Study.” In The Translation Process, ed. by C. Séguinot, 87–98. Toronto: H.G. Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jensen, Astrid. 2001. The Effects of Time on Cognitive Processes and Strategies in Translation. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School. Unpublished doctoral dissertation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaiser-Cooke, Michèle. 2007. Wissenschaft - Translation - Kommunikation. Wien: Facultas (Basiswissen Translation 2).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Krings, Hans. 1987. “Translation Problems and Translation Strategies of Advanced German Learners of French (L2).” In Interlingual and Intercultural Communication, ed. by J. House and S. Blum-Kulka, 263–276. Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kristeva, Julia. 1986. “Word, Dialogue and Novel.” In The Kristeva Reader, ed. by T. Moi, 35–61. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kruse, Otto, and Daniel Perrin. 2003. “Intuition und Professionelles Schreiben.” In Schreiben. Von Intuitiven zu Professionellen Schreibstrategien, ed. by D. Perrin,I. Böttcher, O. Kruse, and A. Wrobel, 7–13. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kußmaul, Paul. 1991. “Creativity in the Translation Process: Empirical Approaches.” In Translation Studies: The State of the Art. Proceedings of the 1st James S. Holmes Symposium in Translation Studies, ed. by K. van Leuven-Zwart and T. Naaijkens, 91–101. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. Kreatives Übersetzen (2nd edition). Tübingen: Stauffenburg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuznik, Anna, and Joan Miquel Verd. 2010. “Investigating Real Work Situations in Translation Agencies. Work Content and its Components.” Hermes 44: 25–43.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lefevere, André. 1998. “Translation Practice(s) and the Circulation of Cultural Capital. Some Aeneids in English.” In Constructing Cultures. Essays on Literary Translation, ed. by S. Bassnett and A. Lefevere, 41–56. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malena, Anne. 2011. “Authors – Translators – Authors.” TranscUlturAl 4 (1): 1–4.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malmkjaer, Kirsten. 2003. “Looking Forward to the Translation. On ‘A Dynamic Reflection of Human Activities’.” In Translation Today: Trends and Perspectives, ed. by G. Anderman and M. Rogers, 76–85. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McDonough, Julie. 2007. “How Do Language Professionals Organize Themselves? An Overview of Translation Networks.” Meta 52 (4): 793–815. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Metzger, Wolfgang. 1982. “Gestalttheoretische Ansätze zur Frage der Kreativität.” In Psychologie der Kultur. Band 2: Imagination. Kunst und Kreativität, ed. by G. Condrau, 331–338. Weinheim: Beltz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Molitor, Sylvie. 1984. Kognitive Prozesse beim Schreiben. Tübingen: Deutsches Institut für Fernstudien (DIFF) – Forschungsbericht Nr. 31.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo. 2010. “On Paradigms and Cognitive Translatology.” In Translation and Cognition, ed. by G.M. Shreve and E. Angelone, 169–188. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. “Birds of a Feather. Translation and Communication Studies.” Connexions 1 (1): 99–103.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. “A Blurred Snapshot of Advances in Translation Process Research.” In Minding Translation. Con la traducción en mente, MonTI Special Issue 1, ed. by R. Muñoz, 49–84. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nickl, Markus. 2005. “Industrialisierung des Schreibens.” In Schreiben am Arbeitsplatz, ed. by E. Jakobs, K. Lehnen, and K. Schindler, 93–108. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ortner, Hanspeter. 1998. “Das kreative Schreiben—halbierte Kreativität und halbierte Schriftlichkeit?” Informationen zur Deutschdidaktik (DIE) 22 (4): 37–52.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. “Schreiben und Wissen. Einfälle fördern und Aufmerksamkeit staffeln.” In Schreiben. Von intuitiven zu professionellen Schreibstrategien, ed. by D. Perrin, I. Böttcher, O. Kruse, and A. Wrobel, 63–81. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Parks, Gerald. 1998. “Towards a Sociology of Translation.” Rivista Internazionale di Tecnica della Traduzione (RITT) 3, 25–35.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perteghella, Manuela. 2013. “Translation as Creative Writing.” In A Companion to Creative Writing, ed. by G. Harper, 195–212. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prunč, Erich. 2012. Entwicklungslinien der Translationswissenschaft. Von den Asymmetrien der Sprachen zu den Asymmetrien der Macht, 3rd edition. Berlin: Frank & Timme.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pym, Anthony. 2011. “The Translator as Non-author, and I am Sorry About that.” In The Translator as Author. Perspectives on Literary Translation, ed. by C. Buffagni, B. Garzelli, and S. Zanotti, 31–44. Münster: LIT Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reiß, Katharina, and Hans J. Vermeer. 1984. Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie. Tübingen: Niemeyer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Risku, Hanna. 1998. Translatorische Kompetenz. Kognitive Grundlagen des Übersetzens als Expertentätigkeit. Tübingen: Stauffenburg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. “Migrating from Translation to Technical Communication and Usability.” In Claims, Changes and Challenges in Translation Studies. Selected Contributions from the EST Congress, Copenhagen 2001, ed. by G. Hansen, D. Gile, and K. Malmkjaer, 181–196. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. “Cognitive Approaches to Translation.” In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, ed. by C. Chapelle. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. “Translation Process Research as Interaction Research. From Mental to Socio-cognitive Processes.” In Minding Translation. Con la traducción en mente, MonTI Special Issue 1, ed. by R. Muñoz, 331–353. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Risku, Hanna, and Angela Dickinson. 2009. “Translators as Networkers: The Role of Virtual Communities.” Hermes 42: 49–70.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Risku, Hanna, Florian Windhager, and Matthias Apfelthaler. 2013. “A Dynamic Network Model of Translatorial Cognition and Action.” Translation Spaces 2: 151–182. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schrijver, Iris, and Leona van Vaerenbergh. 2008. “Die Redaktionskompetenz des Übersetzers: eine Mehrwertleistung oder ein Muss?” trans-kom 1 (2): 209–228, online [URL] [15 April 2016].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schubert, Klaus. 2009. “Positioning Translation in Technical Communication Studies.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 11: 17–30.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
St-Pierre, Paul. 1996. “Translation as Writing Across Languages: Samuel Beckett and Fakir Mohan Senapati.” TTR: traduction, terminologie, rédaction 9 (1): 233–257. .Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Suchman, Lucy A. 2007. Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teixeira, Carlos. 2014. The Impact of Metadata on Translator Performance: How Translators work with Translation Memories and Machine Translation. PhD diss., Universitat Rovira i Virgili; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tirkkonen-Condit, Sonja. 2004. “Unique Items – over- or under-represented in Translated Language?” In Translation Universals: Do they Exist? ed. by A. Mauranen and P. Kujamäki, 177–186. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tirkkonen–Condit, Sonja, Jukka Mäkisalo, and Sini Immonen. 2008. “The Translation Process: Interplay between Literal Rendering and a Search for Sense.” Across Languages and Cultures 9 (1): 1–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ulmann, Gisela. 1968. Kreativität. Weinheim: Beltz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vaerenbergh, Leona van. 2007. “Die Überwindung der Grenze zwischen Translation und Redaktion: eine Theorie der translatorischen Kommunikation.” In Multilinguale Kommunikation. Linguistische und translatorische Ansätze, ed. by S. Bastian and L. van Vaerenbergh, 103–118. München: Martin Meidenbauer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Venuti, Lawrence. 1996. “Translation as Social Practice or The Violence of Translation.” In Translation Horizons. Beyond the Boundaries of Translation Spectrum, ed. by M. Gaddis-Rose, 195–213. New York: SUNY Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wrobel, Arne. 1995. Schreiben als Handlung. Überlegungen und Untersuchungen zur Theorie der Textproduktion. Tübingen: Niemeyer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (9)

Cited by nine other publications

Latif, Muhammad M. M. Abdel
2025. Researching and Modelling the Translation Process, DOI logo
Chen, Xia & Jackie Xiu Yan
2024. Examining student translators’ writing and translation products: quality, errors and self-perceived mental workload. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 18:3 ► pp. 465 ff. DOI logo
Puerini, Sara
2023. Text-production tasks at the keyboard. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 6:1 ► pp. 29 ff. DOI logo
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo & Matthias Apfelthaler
2021. Spillover Effects in Task-Segment Switching: A Study of Translation Subtasks as Behavioral Categories Within the Task Segment Framework. In Advances in Cognitive Translation Studies [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 19 ff. DOI logo
Dam-Jensen, Helle, Carmen Heine & Iris Schrijver
2019. The Nature of Text Production – Similarities and Differences between Writing and Translation. Across Languages and Cultures 20:2 ► pp. 155 ff. DOI logo
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo & José Mª. Cardona Guerra
2019. Translating in fits and starts: pause thresholds and roles in the research of translation processes. Perspectives 27:4 ► pp. 525 ff. DOI logo
Leblay, Christophe
2018. Génétique textuelle et écritures mono- et plurilingues. TTR 29:1 ► pp. 33 ff. DOI logo
Risku, Hanna, Regina Rogl & Jelena Milosevic
2017. Translation practice in the field. Translation Spaces 6:1 ► pp. 3 ff. DOI logo
Risku, Hanna, Regina Rogl & Jelena Milosevic
2019. Translation practice in the field. In Translation Practice in the Field [Benjamins Current Topics, 105], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue