Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS)

Alexandra Assis Rosa
University of Lisbon
Table of contents

Also known as the Polysystem Approach, the Manipulation School, the Tel-Aviv Leuven Axis, the Descriptive, Empirical or Systemic School, or the Low Countries Group, DTS corresponds to a descriptive, empirical, interdisciplinary, target-oriented approach to the study of translation, focusing especially on its role in cultural history. This approach was first developed in the early 1970s, gained momentum in the 1980s, boomed in the 1990s, and still inspires several researchers seeking to “delve into translation as cultural and historical phenomena, to explore its context and its conditioning factors, to search for grounds that can explain why there is what there is” (Hermans 1999: 5). Although frequently equated with the study of literary translation, especially in its early stages (see Literary Studies and Translation Studies), DTS has branched out in several directions including technical translation, audiovisual translation or interpreting, among others.

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