Maeve Olohan

Maeve Olohan

Prof

 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9931-4699

Personal profile

Biography

I am Professor of Translation Studies and Director of the Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies (CTIS), a leading research centre bringing together a very active group of scholars in translation, interpreting and intercultural studies.

I teach numerous topics on the MA in Translation and Interpreting Studies: translation technologies, terminology, translation project management, commercial translation, scientific translation, technical translation. I supervise PhD research in several areas of translation and interpreting studies (see below).

My research on translation often intersects with other disciplines, notably sociology, science and technology studies, corpus linguistics, history of science. See Research interests section for more details.

Since September 2023 I am the Associate Director for Postgraduate Research for the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.

Research interests

I study the socio-material practices of translation in a variety of settings.

 

Workplace studies of translation

This research examines the workplace practices of translation professionals. Areas of analytical focus include the deployment of technologies, the development of knowing-in-practice and collaborative practices. I draw on conceptualisations of practice from science and technology studies (e.g. Olohan 2011) and social theories of practice (Olohan 2017, 2018). I have published on the dynamics of trusting among project managers (Olohan and Davitti 2017) and critical approaches to translation technology (Olohan 2017, 2019, 2021). My monograph, Translation and Practice Theory (2021), provides a conceptual and empirical blueprint for practice-theoretical research within translation studies.

 

 

Translation of science

This research focuses on practices of scientific translation in different times and places. I am interested in the economic, political and scientific contexts in which translation takes place, the personal and institutional networks through which scientific translation is promoted and organised, and the interplay between translators and other agents. Some research on 19th-century scientific translation is published in Olohan 2012 and 2013. I co-edited, with Myriam Salama-Carr, a special issue of The Translator on the translation of science (2011) and have published a postgraduate coursebook, Scientific and Technical Translation (2016).

Scientific and Technical Translation 2016 

Volunteer translation

I completed small-scale studies of the motivations underlying volunteer translation services, in two settings. I examined altruistic translation and publishing in the context of a 19th-century scientific journal (Olohan 2012) and I researched motivation among present-day volunteer translators for TED.com (Olohan 2013).

 

Corpus-based translation studies

In Olohan 2004 and some prior publications I carried out analyses of the language of translation using electronic corpora of translated texts (the Translational English Corpus), with a particular focus on the notion of explicitation.

Introducing Corpora in Translation Studies Olohan2004

Translation process research

I started my academic career with a doctoral project in the area of translation process research, developing and testing hypotheses about translation processes using cognitive theories of language processing.

 

My group

Supervision of PhD research

I will not be taking on new PhD students in 2024.

I am currently supervising or have supervised the following doctoral projects.

In progress

Yang Wu: A Corpus-based Critical Analysis of Conflict Metaphors in China’s Political Speeches and their English Translations (2004-20)

Silvia Terribile: Neural Machine Translation Post-Editing: Productivity, Edits and Knowledge

Rui Sun: Tracking Howard Goldblatt's Translation Style over Time: A Corpus-based Study

Jiaqi Liu: Acting as Gamer: Exploring the Dual Role of Gamer-Translator in Game Localisation 

Hanan Alotaibi: Translation of Philosophy in Saudi Arabia: A Socio-Narrative Case Study

 

Completed PhDs

Read abstracts of all completed PhD projects in the Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies or download a University of Manchester thesis.

Néstor Singer Contreras. 2021. The Development of Translator Identity: A Phenomenological Study of Chilean Translation Students

José Gustavo Góngora-Goloubintseff. 2021. Translation in Wikipedia: A Praxeological Study of Normativity, Negotiation and Automation across Four Language Communities

Melanie Födisch. 2018. Managing Translation Projects: Practices and Quality in Production Networks

Si Cheng. 2018. Translation Competence Development among Learners: A Problem-Solving Perspective

Shabnam Saadat Arkan Najd. 2016. Translation of Children's Literature in Iran: A Structurationist Approach

Andriani Theocharous. 2015. Investigating the Cultural Determinants of Advertising Style in the UK and Greece

Mario Bisiada. 2014. From Hypotaxis to Parataxis: An Investigation of English-German Syntactic Convergence in Translation

Ruselle Meade. 2013. Making Knowledge Move: Translation and the Travel of Technical Textbooks in Meiji-era Japan, 1868-1894

David Charlston. 2012. Hegel’s 'Phenomenology' in Translation: A Comparative Analysis of Translatorial 'Hexis'

Elena Davitti. 2012. Dialogue Interpreting as Intercultural Mediation: Integrating Talk and Gaze in the Analysis of Mediated Parent-Teacher Meetings

Dafni Papadoudi. 2010. Conceptual Metaphor in English Popular Technology and Greek Translation

Lukasz Kaczmarek. 2010. Modelling Competence in Community Interpreting: Expectancies, Impressions and Implications for Accreditation

Matthew Maltby. 2009. Interpreting and Translation Policy in UK Asylum Applications

Peter Skrandies. 2007. Metadiscourse in German History Writing and English Translation

Martha Mutesayire. 2005. Investigating Lexical Explicitation in Translated English: A Corpus-based Study

Opportunities

I will not be taking on new PhD students in 2024. 

 

Memberships of committees and professional bodies

  • Member of the Peer Review College of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) 2010-17
  • Member of Steering Board of ARTIS - Advancing Research in Translation and Intercultural Studies 2014-20
  • Board member, European Masters in Translation, European Commission 2014-19
  • Member of Advisory Board, Genealogies of Knowledge research project 2016-20
  • Member of International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies (IATIS) 2005-present

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Education/Academic qualification

Master of Arts, Applied Languages, Dublin City University

Bachelor of Arts, French and German Translation with Interpreting, Dublin City University

Doctor of Philosophy, UMIST

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Digital Futures
  • Creative Manchester

Keywords

  • translation studies

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  • Post-editing: A Genealogical Perspective on Translation Practice

    Olohan, M., 17 Feb 2021, Empirical Studies in Translation and Discourse. Bisiada, M. (ed.). Berlin: Language Science Press, p. 1-25 25 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    382 Downloads (Pure)

  • Scientific translation

    Olohan, M., 2020, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. Baker, M. & Saldahna, G. (eds.). 3rd ed. London and New York: Routledge, p. 510-514 5 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    5317 Downloads (Pure)

  • Technology, translation

    Olohan, M., 2020, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. Baker, M. & Saldanha, G. (eds.). 3rd ed. London and New York: Routledge, p. 574-579 6 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    514 Downloads (Pure)

  • Translating Technical Texts

    Olohan, M., 2020, (Accepted/In press) Cambridge Handbook of Translation. Malmkjær, K. (ed.). Cambridge University Press

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    6236 Downloads (Pure)

  • Translation and Practice Theory

    Olohan, M., 14 Oct 2020, Abingdon: Routledge. 166 p.

    Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review

View all 51 research outputs