Translation as a Profession (Benjamins Translation Library)

Chapter 2. Categories of translation 33principles in between. It is more and more widely connected with Web site, videogames and software localisation.2.1.10 Translation of [X]In fact, only the nine above domains warrant the existence of domain subcategories.All other forms of specialisation would be labelled “translation ofX”, where X is the name of the domain accompanied by the term ‘documents’/‘documentation’or ‘material’ (e.g. translation of civil engineering documentsor translation of woodcarving documentation).2.2 Translation of specialised types of documents/materialsAgain, where sheer volumes warrant, there emerges a category of translationdefined as the translation of a particular type of document. It is thus customary tosingle out patents, foreign trade instruments, insurance policies, and a few others.Today, the translation of patents is a good case in point as there is much talkof doing away with the translation of patents by deciding that a patent applicationfiled in one language (guess which?) suffices for the whole of Europe. This wouldprobably mean the death of the high-volume patent translation industry.Incidentally, another category of translations would be CV translation, whosevolumes have rocketed recently and which also provides a good entry point forthe provision of further services in translation, language tuition and internationalisation.Note: Web sites and multimedia material do not fall within this category asthey have generated what might be considered entirely autonomous categories andhuge markets and will be considered separately.2.3 Special target/channel/purpose translationsThe sub-categories concerned are judiciary/court translation, community translation,Internet translation, institutional translation, and editorial translation.2.3.1 Judiciary/court translation or sworn translationJudiciary translation is translation done for the courts and police forces. The rangeof documents concerned is wide and judicial translation can be considered as theconjunction of diverse specialised translations.Judiciary or court translators are usually sworn in. In some countries, theyare tested for competence; in some others, there is no qualification requirement(especially when no test can reasonably be carried out because the languagesconcerned are spoken by only a handful of residents in the whole country).Traditionally, court translators are also interpreters.