Translators in production networks : reflections on agency, quality and ethics

Abstract

Over the past fifteen years, the field of professional translation has undergone major structural changes.As a result, translators often work as subcontractors in globalized production networks that consist of multiple actors.Studies focusing on translators' workplaces -falling under the rubric of sociology of translation -are few.Research that addresses the organizational characteristics of the work context of translators are particularly sparse.This dissertation makes a contribution towards contextual workplace studies, as it focuses on translating in production networks.My viewpoint is strictly that of the translator.Hence, this dissertation relies on multiple sources of data and blends different theoretical approaches.By employing a mixed methods approach my goal has been to study both agency and structure and to explore how translation production networks are organized and how their actors interact with each other.My research design is qualitative and ethnographically oriented.The data examined consist of translator interviews and my own observations and experiences, as well as student reflections on translating in production networks.General network theory (Barabási 2002), actor-network theory (Latour 1987) and agency theory (Eisenhardt 1989) are the major theories from which I draw -and they are used to provide complementary insights into translating in production networks.The objective of this thesis is not only to describe production networks and translators' agency therein but also -and perhaps more importantly -to try to understand, and thereby also help others to understand, their organizing principles, as well as to discover the conflict points, so that these might be resolved.Conflict resolution, however, is not the primary target of this thesis, nor could it be.Indeed, that would be a major undertaking that would require the collaboration of translators and their unions, the educational institutions and the translation industry in general, not to mention the representatives of the various users of translations.This dissertation is comprised of five articles, four of which are based on empirical data.The first empirical article provides a bird's eye view of the topology of translation production networks and focuses on the issue of trust.The second article, also based on empirical data, zooms in on one specific audiovisual translation production network paying particular attention to the actors, both human and non-human, and their interaction.The iv third empirical article examines structure and agency, bringing to the fore the relevance of information and emotional aspects regarding translation quality.The fourth article examines students' reflections on translating in production networks as empirical data while it tackles questions of ethics.The fifth article, the only Finnish-language article in my thesis, is theoretical and concentrates on the issue of quality in production networks.The research findings of the various subsections of this thesis are parallel and, when analysed together, clearly indicate that production networks are a challenging working environment for translators, especially for translators who are recent graduates.The analyses reveal serious conflict points as to the cooperation between the actors, particularly regarding the issues of quality and ethics.Firstly, trust-building among the actors in production networks seems to present a challenge due to their self-organizing, undemocratic principles.Secondly, it appears that translating as an institution is currently under threat, as are users' rights in society.As production networks continue to exhibit emergent complex behaviour governed by their own internal workings and logic, translators' fiduciary duties towards the users of translations need protection.Thirdly, stringent competition at the expense of sustainable development may lead to abnegation of responsibility, thus lowering quality in the network.At its worst, such a situation can result in moral hazard arising in the network, as pressures from the rest of the network may motivate even translators to lower their ethical values.Finally, I argue that translators' currently restricted and narrow agency must be strengthened, so that translators have the opportunity to act as agents more effectively for themselves and the users, thereby improving translation quality.

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