Development Trajectories in Translation Studies

The science of translation experienced a rapid development in the German-speaking countries since the mid- eighties. In several translational science centres (centres for the study of translation and interpretation) in Graz, Vienna, Mainz/Germersheim, Saarbrücken, Heidelberg, Leipzig, Berlin a.s.o., innovative and theoretical developments arose, were devised and brought to perfection - developments which were internationally acknowledged and acclaimed. The monograph which I have authored, traces back these developments, devises the various international attempts and schools and shows which part they take in the structures of theory and method in today`s translational studies. This process comes to show how fertile the following schools were and still are for the translational research and university teaching, due to their interaction: the translational school (in Heidelberg) around Hans Vermeer and Katharina Reiss with their skopos theory (chapter 5. 2), the (mostly German-speaking) Finnish school around Justa Holz-Mänttari and the functionalist approach of Christiane Nord. This reference should merely be considered as a representative example for the description of the "chains of development" described in the monograph. At the same time, the translational school in Graz (which I had led for almost 20 years) has always contributed substantially to the development of new theories and methods in this field. The monograph is currently the only complete overview of the development of this research area in Europe and elsewhere and it is being very frequently used in teaching, as I am told by many fellow professors.