Rethinking Specialised Translation: Translations as Fuzzy Sets

In this Chapter I put forward some considerations on the impact and repercussions of the shift to target-oriented approaches in translations studies, focusing in particular on how these evolutions have impacted on the generally accepted definition of translation. Among the issues considered is the suitability of target-oriented approaches in general to account for the immense variety of translated and/or rewritten texts that circulate in the contemporary world and their variable relationship to the ST. In the discussion, reference will be made prevalently to the most important works of the founding scholars of descriptivism and functionalism, Gideon Toury and Hans Vermeer. By necessity this involves leaving out developments carried forward by other scholars in the same areas of translation studies, not because of the intention to downplay some later theoretical contributions, but for the sake of linearity in reasoning and argumentation.