Tony McEnery is distinguished professor of Linguistics and English Language in the Department of English Language and Linguistics at Lancaster University, Adjunct Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University and Advisory Professor at Shanghai International Studies University. He has published widely on corpus linguistics and is the author of Corpus Linguistics: Method, Theory and Practice (with Andrew Hardie, Cambridge University Press, 2011). His latest book, Fundamental Principles of Corpus Linguistics (with Vaclav Brezina) was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, the Global China Academy and the Royal Society of Arts in the UK.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8425-6403

 

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The Past, Present, and Future of Corpus and Translation Studies

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Abstract

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This talk will provide a retrospective on the development of the field of translation studies, moving towards the current state-of-the-art of corpus and translation studies with a closing focus on future directions. The 20th century saw significant advances in translation studies, with its establishment as a field in its own right, and its development, in synchrony, with linguistic typology, contrastive linguistics, and corpus linguistics. Key concepts that underpin corpus approaches to translation studies effectively draw on theoretical concepts from a range of backgrounds, spanning corpus linguistics, contrastive linguistics, and translation studies. Among the key concepts discussed will be representativeness, sampling, the tertium comparationis, and equivalence. The concepts are discussed specifically with a view to operationalising them for corpus and translation studies. Looking forward, the talk sets the stage for the  exploration of the intersection between corpus linguistics and translation studies, anticipating continued growth and refinement in the field.