Traductores en la actividad empresarial internacional: ¿inter-, multi- o transdisciplinares? Estudio terminológico sobre el concepto de interdisciplinariedad.

Abstract

The changes taking place in the translation market have seen the emergence of new tasks, tools and ways of understanding and naming the translator’s profession. In light of this, the question arises as to how to appropriately approach training pro- grammes for future translation and interpreting (T&I) graduates, since more often than not translators perform their jobs between the centre and the peripheries of the trans- lation practice (Dam & Koskinen, 2016), as is clearly evidenced in business interna- tionalization environments (Kuznik, 2016; Morón & Medina, 2016). Thus, given the interdisciplinary nature of our field and the hybrid character of the translator’s profile (Hatim & Munday, 2004; Katan, 2009; Seymen et al., 2016), we conduct a termino- logical study to analyse the concept of interdisciplinarity in translation studies. Our study specifically aims to examine the presence of this phenomenon in the context of translator training by analysing the use of associated terminology found in descriptions of translator training in Spain. Our research is a corpus-driven study, performed with a mixed approach (Grotjahn, 1987) and using a content analysis technique for textual data analysis (Bardin, 2002 [1986]). The results of the study show that there is clear inconsistency and ambiguity in the use of terminology associated to interdisciplinarity, presumably due to ignorance of the real scope of such terms, which were introduced into academic language largely under the influence of the Bologna Process. We con- clude that this descriptive approach is a necessary starting point for better defining our discipline’s identity, while also helping to strengthen undergraduates’ employability in T&I-related sectors.