РУАЭСТ (RUAEST)
If the Mountain Won’t Come… Translation Studies Meets Localization
Localization has signiёcantly inяuenced translation tasks and roles of translators due to the technological development of text production, processing and distribution. However, Translation Studies remains at the periphery of a broader area of emerging Localization Studies that includes related scholarly research in IT technology, human-computer interaction, empirical Cultural Studies, cross-cultural and international management, etc. These lines of theoretical, descriptive and applied research are currently isolated and need to be synthesized and problematized under a unifying theoretical framework. Currently, localization is approached within Translation Studies as just another technology-aided type of translation. Theoretical conceptualizations that provide a theoretical framework for a transdisciplinary turn in localization research are few and have not generated much enthusiasm among TS scholars. The question is whether the time has come for the state-of-the art TS to meet the challenge or to occupy but a small niche within maturing Localization Studies.