Why do successful translators quit?

What is it about?

The paper explores how translators negotiate norms and how subversive translation practices are accepted or rejected by translation teams and institutions. Translators who were working or had worked at the same workplace were interviewed to elicit information regarding their experiences and, mostly, their taken-for-granted assumptions as to what translation is, does, and should be and do. Results suggest that when conflicting norms coexist, some translators manage to make their norms rule over others' by creating intra- and inter-professional alliances. However, intra-professional negotiation relies heavily on objective status and imposition. In those cases, some translators consider parts of their translation doxas off limits when negotiating translation norms, and translators may become disaffected and seek alternative fields to develop professionally. What is considered off limits depends on translators' previous experience, most notably their experience with a variety of normative systems which gives rise to different translators' habitus.

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The paper focuses on a lesser explored issue within the field of legal translation, subversive practices. Results provide evidence of the impact of experience with different normative systems on translators' habitus. The study contributes to the extant knowledge on translators' habitus by confirming trends identified in previous studies and adding insights as to where translators' subversive habitus may depart from subservient habitus.

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