Wolf, Michaela and Fukari, Alexandra, eds (2007): Constructing a Sociology of Translation. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 222 p.

The “Table of contents” of a book, specially a sound and well-organized academic research manual, has sometimes been compared to a professional or company “business card.” It gives a basic first impression, overloaded with the phatic function of language, i.e., the one that facilitates or hinders effective communication – an impression that may be significantly influence many future developments. As far as Constructing a Sociology of Translation is concerned, the word ‘developments’ as used here can mean ‘sharing the results of one’s research,’ ‘spread of specialized knowledge,’ and ‘consolidation, or better construction, of a sub-discipline’ (Sociology of Translation). An Introduction by one of the editors, Michaela Wolf, precedes the table of contents which is perfectly organized into four sections by subject matter or research challengers: Part I. The debate on the translator’s position in an emerging sociology of translation; Part II. Bourdieu’s influence in conceptualising a sociology of translation; Part III. Mapping the field: Issues of method and translation practice; and Part IV. Constructing a sociology of translation studies: Overview and perspectives. Each section consists of two or three chapters, giving prospective readers an impression of order, balance, regularity, coherence-cohesion, and organisation. Indeed, it looks like a very welcoming business card. But ‘indexes’ are not only designed to be phatic or a communication-friendly tool. They are also meaningful; they must make room for the referential function of language; they must summarize and advance the main concepts, ideas, theories, empirical data, research findings and prospects under discussion in the coming pages and chapters. This hybrid title combining the spheres of influence of Sociology and Translation opens with the word ‘constructing,’ an absolutely purposeful choice. Analyzing the section and chapter titles reveals an underlying semantic network of closely related words and expressions, both in English and French. In other words, there is a non-stop parade of reiterative linguistic items such as ‘emerging,’ ‘re-lecture,’ ‘outline for,’ ‘future prospects,’ ‘negotiating borderlines,’ ‘mapping the field,’ ‘bridge concepts,’ ‘overview and perspectives,’ or the absolutely self-explanatory ‘Y a-t-il place pour une socio-traductologie?’ by Yves Gambier, etc., which introduces the need for a future construction and consolidation of a Sociology of Translation, the main purpose and driving force of this manual. But just as a company is much more than its business card, a book also relies on many other factors that go beyond its table of contents. A business demands valuable assets such as a highly qualified workforce, competitive saleable products, and a well-defined target market. Equally, a scholarly work such as Constructing a Sociology of Translation, published by a high prestige company such as John Benjamins for inclusion in its renowned Benjamins Translation Library (BTL), requires a proven team of researchers, a title that truly represents a breakthrough contribution, and a set of proposals responding to the intellectual demands of a sufficient number of specialists in their field of knowledge. On the other hand, this Benjamins Translation Library title presents a wide range of proposals, all dealing in one way or another with the explicit themes defined by the editor, Michaela Wolf, in the opening paragraph of her “Introduction,” sub-entitled “The emergence of a sociology of translation”: Part I, its general heading quoted above, deals with those individuals, the translators, who belong to a social system, in the first chapter by Erich Prunč entitled: “Priests, Princes and Pariahs. Constructing the Professional Field of Translation,” which is as a succinct cultural and social history of the different images of the translator, no matter how misleading they are or have been, from genius to anonymous individual. And, what is probably the most outstanding …