The symbolic power of academic translator training institutions: The case of the Translation Studies Department at Istanbul University

Abstract

Translation teaching, which is supposed to bridge “the theory” and “the profession”, is often attacked by practitioners for its passivity and inertia. This critical attitude is seen in Turkey too, within the scope of various arguments. Yet, those who criticise academia seem to forget that translator training as an institutionalised academic activity has the power to change certain “malpractices” in the translation marketplace. In this study, we focused on the problems of the Turkish translation market and the symbolic power of the Translation Studies Department at Istanbul University in struggle with them. We used examples from our contribution to several initiatives on institutionalism and professionalism in literary and technical fields of translation/interpreting. Our contribution is primarily based on a descriptive approach aiming to collect the empirical data on the subjects to bring the related parties together in order to be able to discuss the issues from all points of view. We hope to have created a positive interaction as such, which has improved the translation practice and led to some changes in our country’s translation market place for the better.