Official translations are generally documents that serve as legally valid instruments. They include anything from certificates of birth, death or marriage through to academic transcripts or legal contracts. This field of translation is now as important as it is fraught with difficulties, for it is only in a few areas that the cultural differences are so acute and the consequences of failure so palpable. In a globalizing world, our official institutions increasingly depend on translations of official documents, but little has been done to elaborate the skills and dilemmas involved.

Roberto Mayoral deals with the very practical problems of official translating. He points out the failings of traditional theories in this field and the need for revised concepts such as the virtual document, pragmatic constraints, and risk analysis. He details aspects of the social contexts, ethical norms, translation strategies, different formats, fees, legal formulas, and ways of solving the most frequent problems. Care is taken to address as wide a range of cultural contexts as possible and to stress the active role of the translator.

This book is intended as a teaching text for the classroom, for self-learning, or for professionals who want to reflect on their practice. Activities and exercises are suggested for each chapter, and information is included on professional associations and societies across the globe.

About the Author
Roberto Mayoral has lectured on translation at the Universidad de Granada in Spain for 23 years and has been a Visiting Professor at Princeton, Dartmouth College and Brigham Young University. He is the author of La traduccion de la variacion linguistica (1999) and Aspectos epistemologicos de la traduccion (2001) and has worked as an official translator between Spanish and English for 18 years.

Reviews

'... an invaluable reference guide for those engaged in translating official documents. ... the basics of official translating have never been addressed in such detail.'

Valentin Shevchuk, Perspectives

'... excelente monografia sobre traduccion jurada... La claridad con que ha dibujado todos los problemas y sus soluciones es admirable, y ayuda a entender con mayor profundidad la complejidad de una disciplina que sigue tan desdibujada en muchas mentes: la traduccion jurada.'

David Valenzuela Gabarron, Quaderns. Revista de traduccio

Book Information
ISBN 9781900650656
Author Roberto Mayoral Asensio
Format Paperback
Page Count 166
Imprint St Jerome Publishing
Publisher St Jerome Publishing
Weight(grams) 530g