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Article published In: Target
Vol. 27:2 (2015) ► pp.238–272

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Pre- and post-conflict language designations and language policies

Re-configuration of professional norms amongst translators of the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian languages

 | Monash University
Published online: 8 June 2015
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.27.2.04hla
This paper examines the reported actions and strategies of translators working in three closely related languages, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, which have recently undergone re-codification in countries that have greatly changed their language planning and language policy regulations. The legacy of former and unofficial designations such as ‘Serbo-Croatian’ or ‘Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian’ within the post-conflict situation is contextualised and translators’ decisionmaking processes and reported strategies in relation to language form and designation are examined. The paper seeks to demonstrate the explanatory power of Toury’s notion of norms as a framework to account for new regularities of practice. Texts identified to be different from their nominal code, or market requests to work from or into unofficial designations are now problematised and re-negotiated as secondary practices or a less commonly reported behaviour. The paper extends and applies the notion of norms to the social and occupational, macro-pragmatic role that translators occupy.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Role of translation and translators in the codification of the standard languages of the Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs
    • 2.1Role of translation and translators in the codification of Bosnian
    • 2.2Role of translation and translators in the codification of Croatian
    • 2.3Role of translation and translators in the codification of Serbian
  • 3.Serbo-Croatian and its relationship to Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian
  • 4.Translation in the SFRY
  • 5.Post-SFRY re-codifications
  • 6.Post-1991 policies and designations: Implications for T&I practitioners
  • 7.Which factors, specific to the pre-and post-conflict situations in the (ex-) SFRY, offer generalisations relevant to Translation Studies?
  • 8.Methodology
  • 9.Data and discussion
  • 10.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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