Beyond “East” and “West” in Translation Studies. Systems and Interactions

In contrast to most other academic disciplines and because of the historical circumstances of its birth, Translation Studies can be considered a set of “systems” with various levels of openness and interaction partly determined by their geo-cultural position, inter alia as “Eastern” or “Western”, but more strongly influenced by their academic vs. professional or training foci and traditions. When analysing the roots and evolution of interaction patterns between these systems, it appears that while in Europe, borders between “East” and “West” tend to become blurred and geographic systems tend to merge, East-Asian systems lead a parallel but separate existence, mostly because of linguistic factors and because Chinese, Japanese and Korean scholars can afford institutionally to only publish in their respective languages and in their national publication systems. As to interaction between various branches of Translation Studies, sub-disciplinary systems remain separate though they now communicate far more than in the first decades of their existence, inter alia thanks to modern communication technology. As regards research paradigms, larger systems tend to influence smaller systems much more than the other way around, which is not without risks, in particular on the empirical research side, where TS is still methodologically weak; an exceedingly high visibility of theoretical contributions as opposed to meticulous data collection and analysis work may not be the best incentive for beginners to abide by the norms of systematic caution in design and inferencing.