Translation in cross-language international business research
- Author(s)
- Agnieszka Chidlow, Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki, Catherine Welch
- Abstract
In this paper, we problematise the way translation has been treated in international business (IB) research. We start by conducting an interpretive content analysis of both qualitative and quantitative cross-language studies published in four core IB journals over the course of a decade. Our analysis shows the dominance of a technicist view of translation associated with the equivalence paradigm. In contrast, we advocate a shift to a more contextualised approach informed by theoretical developments in translation studies. More specifically, we focus on two theoretical perspectives-skopos theory and cultural politics-which offer related but distinct approaches to rethinking equivalence. We conclude by advocating that the translation process be reframed as a process of intercultural interaction, rather than a lexical transfer of meaning. This reconceptualisation would, we argue, open up what is currently a "black box" in most IB studies. The contextualised approach that we offer has the potential not just to enrich the findings of studies, but also provide insights that are of multidisciplinary relevance.
- Organisation(s)
- External organisation(s)
- Manchester Metropolitan University, The University of Sydney, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- Journal
- Journal of International Business Studies
- Volume
- 45
- Pages
- 562-582
- No. of pages
- 21
- ISSN
- 0047-2506
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2013.67
- Publication date
- 01-2014
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 502016 SME-research
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business and International Management, Business, Management and Accounting(all), Economics and Econometrics, Strategy and Management, Management of Technology and Innovation
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/translation-in-crosslanguage-international-business-research(98d1414a-88a2-4f9c-a813-10ce2ee758cb).html