Corpus-based translation studies: where does it come from? Where is it going?

Abstract

The idea of investigating translation and translating through corpora was first put forward by Baker in 1993. At the time it was envisaged that in this new partnership Corpus Linguistics would provide the methodology for carrying out empirical investigations while translation theory would identify the areas of enquiry and elaborate operational hypotheses. The two partners would work in harmony mainly for the benefit of the advancement of the descriptive branch of the discipline. Since then the partnership has acquired a clear identity with a specific denomination, Corpus-based Translation Studies (CTS). Its areas of research range from descriptive to applied studies, and concern many different languages. In this paper I will examine the links existing between CTS, Corpus Linguistics and Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) with a view to establishing which claims put forward in the past still hold true and which are the most fruitful areas of long-term CTS research. My paper is organised in three chronological sections each corresponding to a salient moment in the history of CTS. The first two years 1993-1995 see the dawn of CTS, the period of time between 1996 and 1999 represents what I see as the corpus linguistic turn in Translation Studies, while from 2000 onwards it is plausible to envisage a cultural studies turn in CTS.