The Professional Identity of Translators: Towards a Conceptual Model

چکیده مقاله

The sociological turn is considered one of the most recent turns of Translation Studies, following linguistic, cultural, and cognitive turns. Sociological studies deal with the sociology of agents (translators, revisors, readers, publishers, critics, commissioners, etc.), the sociology of the process of translation, and the sociology of the product of translation. These studies investigate translators' identity and status, among other issues. Professional identity of translators, defined as translators' professional self-conception, is one of the main themes raised in "translator studies" as a main subfield of sociological studies. This type of identity is influenced and shaped by numerous factors. The present conceptual research aimed at developing a conceptual model of the professional identity of translators and its determining factors. The available literature was critically reviewed and the factors were determined and then classified. The conceptual model provided considers professional identity from three perspectives: historical, collective, and personal. The components of the model are enumerated below, of course not based on the order of importance. Based on the conceptual model, 12 factors are identified as influencing and shaping translators' professional identity at the three above-mentioned levels: (1) translation job market (working conditions and income), (2) expectancy norms, (3) translators' role in fulfilling TL users' needs, (4) translators' self-image, (5) public-image of translation and translators, (6) the prestige of the target language, (7) the status of translation in the target language, (8) translators' agency, (9) translators' visibility, (10) translators' network of relations, (11) professionalization and professional associations, and (12) undergraduate/postgraduate degree programs. The different components of the model work together to provide an overall, integrated picture of translators' professional identity. The model and its components need to be tested and validated in empirical research.