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Article published In: Translation, Cognition & Behavior
Vol. 2:2 (2019) ► pp.211–232

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A systems theory perspective on the translation process

 | Kent State University
 | Kent State University
 | Kent State University
Published online: 6 September 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tcb.00026.car
Abstract
The translation process has often been described as a sequence of three steps, source text (ST) analysis, source-target transfer, and target text (TT) generation. We propose a radically different view, in which the human translation process consists of a hierarchy of interacting word and phrase translations systems which organize and integrate as dissipative structures. Activation of word (or phrase) translation systems is a non-selective subliminal process in the translator’s mind not restricted to one language. Depending on the entropy (i.e., the internal order) of the word translation systems, a human translator spends more or less time and energy during the translation process, which can be measured in the form of gaze patterns and production duration.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Models of the bilingual mind
  • 3.Cognitive effort and entropy in translation
  • 4.Entropy and negentropy
  • 5.Word translation entropy
  • 6.Dissipative structures
  • 7.Entropic gravity
  • 8.Information philosophy
  • Notes
  • References
References (45)
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