Cover not available

Article published In: Translation Spaces: Online-First Articles

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

Conceptualisations of ‘translation’ in machine translation research and development

ORCiD logo with link | University of Graz
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

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

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Graz.

Published online: 11 November 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.23029.tie
Abstract
What constitutes translation when performed by a machine? This article explores this question by examining how machine translation (MT) researchers and developers conceptualise translation within their professional practice. Based on a series of expert interviews, the study uncovers divergent notions ranging from translation as systematic information transfer to translation as cultural mediation. These perspectives are then situated against linguistic and functional theories in Translation Studies, which provide contrasting reference points: the former treating translation as a primarily mechanical process, the latter as a purposive, human-centred act of mediation. Drawing on Social Construction of Technology (SCOT), the analysis highlights how conceptualisations of translation in MT R&D are shaped both by technological affordances — such as neural architectures and machine learning logics — and by broader social and economic contexts. The findings show that whether MT qualifies as translation depends less on a definitive resolution than on the lens through which the concept is framed.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.“Translation” as an analytical concept to investigate machine translation
  • 3.Technological Determinism and Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)
  • 4.Methods for data collection and analysis
  • 5.Conceptualisations of translation in MT R&D
    • 5.1General understanding of translation
    • 5.2Human vs. machine translation
    • 5.3Technologically determined vs socially constructed conceptualisations of translation
    • 5.4Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (34)
References
. 2024. “The Explanatory Power of Descriptive Translation Studies in the Machine Translation Era.” Perspectives 32 (2): 261–77. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bijker, Wiebe E., Thomas P. Hughes, and Trevor J. Pinch. 2012/1987. The Social Construction of Technological Systems. New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology. MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Braun, Sabine, Elena Davitti, and Sara Dicerto. 2018. “Video-Mediated Interpreting in Legal Settings: Assessing the Implementations.” In Here or there: Research on Interpreting via Video Link, edited by Jamina Napier, Robert Skinner, and Sabine Braun, 144–179. Gallaudet University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Catford, John C. 1965. A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cronin, Michael. 2012. “The Translation Age: Translation, Technology, and the New Instrumentalism.” In The Translation Studies Reader, 3rd. ed., edited by Lawrence Venuti, 469–83. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
do Carmo, Félix. 2020. “‘Time Is Money’ and the Value of Translation.” Translation Spaces 9 (1): 35–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gläser, Jochen and Grit Laudel. 2010. Experteninterviews und qualitative Inhaltsanalyse als Instrumente rekonstruierender Untersuchungen. [Expert interviews and qualitative content analysis as instruments for reconstructive studies]. VS Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holz-Mänttäri, Justa. 1984. Translatorisches Handeln. Theorie und Methode [Translatorial Action: Theory and Method]. Suo-malainen Tiedeakatemia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jakobson, Roman. 1959/2000. “On Linguistic Aspects of Translation.” In On Translation, edited by R. Brower, 232–239. Harvard University Press. Reprinted in Lawrence Venuti (ed.) 2000. The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd edition, 113–118. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kade, Otto. 1968. Zufall und Gesetzmäßigkeit in der Übersetzung [Chance and Regularity in Translation]. VEB Enzyklopädie.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuczmarski, James. 2018. “A new look for Google Translate on the web.” Google Translate Blog. Accessed August 14, 2025. [URL]
Läubli, Samuel, and Spence Green. 2019. “Translation Technology and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).” In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Technology, edited by Minako O’Hagan, 370–383. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lefevere, André, and Susan Bassnett. 1998. “Introduction: Where Are We in Translation Studies?” In Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation, edited by Susan Bassnett, and André Lefevere, 1–11. Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moorkens, Joss, and Sharon O’Brien. 2017. “Assessing User Interface Needs of Post-Editors of Machine Translation.” In Human Issues in Translation Technology, edited by Dorothy Kenny, 109–30. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moorkens, Joss. 2017. “Under Pressure: Translation in Times of Austerity.” Perspectives 25 (3): 464–77. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo, Sanjun Sun, and Defeng Li (eds). 2021. Advances in Cognitive Translation Studies. Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nida, Eugene A. 1964. Toward a Science of Translating: With Special Reference to Principles and Procedures Involved in Bible Translating. E. J. Brill. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nida, Eugene A. and Charles R. Taber. 1969. The Theory and Practice of Translation. E. J. Brill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nunes Vieira, Lucas. 2020. “Automation Anxiety and Translators.” Translation Studies 13 (1): 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Och, Franz. 2012. “Breaking down the language barrier — six years in.” Google Translate Blog. Accessed April 26, 2025. [URL]
Oettinger, Anthony G. 1960. Automatic Language Translation. Lexical and Technical Aspects, with Particular Reference to Russian. Harvard University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pinch, Trevor J. and Wiebe E. Bijker. 1984. “The Social Construction of Facts and Artefacts: Or How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other.” Social Studies of Science 14 (3): 399–441. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reiß, Katharina, and Hans J. Vermeer. 1984/1991. Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie. [Foundation of a general translation theory]. Niemeyer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rozmysłowicz, Tomasz. 2014. “Machine Translation: A Problem for Translation Theory.” New Voices in Translation Studies 111: 145–63. Accessed August 14, 2025. [URL]
. 2019. “Die Geschichtlichkeit der Translation(swissenschaft)” [The Historicity of Translation (Studies): On the Paradigmatic Relevance of Machine Translation]. Chronotopos 1 (2): 17–41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ruffo, Paola. 2021. In-between Role and Technology: Literary Translators on Navigating the New Socio-technological Paradigm. PhD Dissertation, Heriot-Watt University.
Sakamoto, Akiko and Masaru Yamada. 2020. “Social Groups in Machine Translation Post-Editing.” Translation Spaces 9 (1): 78–97. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sismondo, Sergio. 2010. An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies. Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stiegler, Hubert and Günter Felbinger. 2012. “Der Interviewleitfaden im qualitativen Interview” [The Interview Guide in Qualitative Interviewing ]. In Praxisbuch empirische Sozialforschung in den Erziehungs- und Bildungswissenschaften [Practical Guide to Empirical Social Research in Educational Sciences], edited by Hubert Stigler, and Hannelore Reicher, 141–146. Studien-Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verbeek, Peter P. 2005. What Things Do. Philosophical Reflections on Technology, Agency, and Design. Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weaver, Warren. 1949/1955. “Translation.” In Machine Translation of Languages: Fourteen Essays, edited by William N. Locke, and Donald Booth, 15–23. Technology Press of the MIT.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue