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In:A (Re)turn to the Source Text
Edited by Malin Carlström and Richard Pleijel
[Benjamins Translation Library 169] 2026
► pp. 10–34

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Introduction

A (re)turn to the source text

 | Stockholm University
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 20 February 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.169.intro
Abstract
This introduction outlines the rationale for the edited volume. It describes what is characterized as two major drawbacks when it comes to how the source text is conceptualized in contemporary translation studies. The first is the source text’s invisibility (which can also be framed in terms of the source text not being conceptualized). The second is the source text’s perceived singularity/stability. Various reasons for this, pertaining to the development of translation studies but also to more general intellectual trends, are discussed. It is emphasized that especially descriptive translation studies (DTS) with its focus on translations as “target-cultural facts” has left the source text undertheorized. A number of translation practices and genres, which challenge the dominant view of textual singularity/stability, are discussed. Finally, the chapters of the volume are presented.
Article outline
  • 1.Introducing the source text in translation studies: Problems and prospects
  • 2.Research trends in translation studies and their intellectual and historical background
    • 2.1Source text singularity: Three statements
    • 2.2The sense of an ending: Focusing on the target (text)
    • 2.3Textual singularity: Romanticism, the printing press, and philology
  • 3.Recent theoretical assessments of the source text
    • 3.1The translator as text-critical editor
    • 3.2Work and text
    • 3.3Genetically reversing the “ending”
  • 4.Source text complexities: Lessons from translation practices and text types
    • 4.1Translation practices challenging source text singularity and the source-target binary
    • 4.2Texts types challenging source text singularity and the source-target binary
  • 5.The contribution(s) of this volume
  • Notes
  • References
References (90)
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