Résumés
Abstract
This article reports on an investigation which forms part of a comprehensive empirical project aimed at investigating the status of professional translators and interpreters in a variety of contexts. The purpose of the research reported on here was to investigate the differences in terms of occupational status between the three groups of professional business translators which we were able to identify in relatively large numbers on the Danish translation market: company, agency and freelance translators. The method involves data from questionnaires completed by a total of 244 translators belonging to one of the three groups. The translators’ perceptions of their occupational status were examined and compared through their responses to questions evolving around four parameters of occupational prestige: (1) salary/income, (2) education/expertise, (3) visibility, and (4) power/influence. Our hypothesis was that company translators would come out at the top of the translator hierarchy, closely followed by agency translators, whereas freelancers would position themselves at the bottom. Although our findings largely confirm the hypothesis and lead to the identification of a number of differences between the three groups of translators in terms of occupational status, the analyses did in fact allow us to identify more similarities than differences. The analyses and results are discussed in detail, and avenues for further research are suggested.
Keywords:
- translator status,
- the translation profession,
- business translators,
- occupational prestige,
- professionalization
Résumé
Le présent article rend compte d’une étude qui s’inscrit dans un vaste projet de recherche empirique visant à enquêter sur le statut des traducteurs et des interprètes professionnels dans des contextes variés. L’objectif de l’étude était d’enquêter sur les différences de statut professionnel entre les trois groupes de traducteurs spécialisés professionnels, qui sont, d’après nos estimations, en nombre relativement important sur le marché danois de la traduction : les traducteurs employés dans une société, les traducteurs employés dans une agence, et les traducteurs indépendants. La méthodologie fait appel à des données provenant de questionnaires remplis par un total de 244 traducteurs appartenant à l’un de ces trois groupes. Les perceptions des traducteurs à l’égard de leur statut professionnel ont été étudiées et comparées grâce aux réponses fournies à des questions regroupées autour de quatre paramètres relatifs au prestige professionnel : (1) salaire/revenus, (2) formation/expertise, (3) visibilité, (4) pouvoir/influence. Notre hypothèse était que les traducteurs employés dans une société arriveraient au sommet de la hiérarchie en termes de statut professionnel, suivis de près par ceux qui sont employés dans une agence, tandis que les traducteurs indépendants se positionneraient au bas de la hiérarchie. Bien que les résultats corroborent largement notre hypothèse et conduisent à l’identification de certaines différences, les analyses nous ont, en fait, permis de repérer plus de similarités que de différences. Les analyses et les résultats sont présentés en détail, et de nouvelles voies de recherche sont suggérées.
Mots-clés :
- statut des traducteurs,
- la profession de traducteur,
- traducteurs spécialisés,
- prestige professionnel,
- professionnalisation
Parties annexes
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