A critical re-evaluation of Gideon Toury's target-oriented approach to "Translation" phenomena

Abstract

Translating and interpreting are two separate but related forms of “Translation”. Various scholars of Interpreting Studies believe that translation theories are significant in understanding the phenomena of interpreting. On the other hand, it is widely held that recent translation research and theory operate in accordance with the major assumptions of the “Target-Oriented Approach,” an influential modern theory of translation developed by the Israeli scholar G. Toury in order to explain all phenomena related to translation. The approach, however, had not previously been systematically examined as a possible theoretical framework for interpreting studies as well. To investigate the relevance of the Target-Oriented Approach to interpreting studies, a “secondary analysis” of a selection of Interpreting Studies literature, consisting of 81 sources obtained through bibliographic research at the Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori in Italy, has been carried out to compare and contrast the major assumptions of the Target-Oriented Approach with relevant assumptions developed in the domain of Interpreting Studies. The findings of this study indicate that the Target-Oriented Approach is a useful theoretical framework for the domain of Interpreting Studies, even though it is not a theory general enough to explain all phenomena related to translation, but a more specific theory, particularly, related to “cultural studies” in translation phenomena.