Interpreting and translation in a Japanese social and historical context
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Kumiko Torikai
Abstract
The paper will review interpreting and translation within the socio-historical context of Japan, and their relevance to language education, one of the crucial elements in a globalized world. First, Nagasaki interpreters in Edo period will be studied to illustrate their multifaceted role as language specialists, followed by an examination of the phenomenon called translationism and its influence on the modernization process during Meiji period. Then, the discussion proceeds to the role played by simultaneous interpreters after WWII, and growing awareness in the country for the importance of English as a global language, resulting in the increased interest in interpreter training as part of communicative language teaching in Japanese tertiary education. In conclusion, the paper addresses the significance of translation and interpreting studies, in terms of society at large.
© 2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/New York
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- Negotiation and communicative accommodation in bilingual police interrogations: a critical interactional sociolinguistic perspective
- “It's not what they say but the way they say it”. A content analysis of interpreter and consumer perceptions towards signed language interpreting in Australia
- Interpreting and translation in a Japanese social and historical context
- Translation and interpreting in the Arabic of the Middle Ages: lessons in contextualization
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- Book reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Mapping the field: Sociological perspectives on translation
- Negotiation and communicative accommodation in bilingual police interrogations: a critical interactional sociolinguistic perspective
- “It's not what they say but the way they say it”. A content analysis of interpreter and consumer perceptions towards signed language interpreting in Australia
- Interpreting and translation in a Japanese social and historical context
- Translation and interpreting in the Arabic of the Middle Ages: lessons in contextualization
- Translating foreign words in imperial Russian literature: the experience of the foreign and the sociology of language
- Los hablantes del código navajo: estrategias de traducción, interpretación y encriptación
- Book reviews
