This is an academic presentation which can be helpful for those who want to understand the 21st century trends in translation.

2.  Trend is a general direction in
which something is changing.
 Trends do not erupt, they are
triggered by some internal or
external factors.

3.  Globalization has brought the whole world
closer on socio-economic, political and cultural
grounds.
 Technological advancements, e.g. Invention of
computer, smart phones, global broadcasting of
films and TV programs.
All this has brought visible change
in the trends of translation in the
21st century.

4. Following areas are reflecting the
contemporary trends in translation:
 Attitude towards translation
 Emergence of translation as a field
 Theoretical approach
 Tools and Process of translation
 Scope of translation

5.  Back in history, translation was not taken as an intricate
art.
 Etienne Dolet was burned with his books due to translating
Plato’s work which says When someone dies ‘there is
nothing left at all’
 Current perceptions about translation:
I. Means of transference of knowledge
II. Means of spreading religion
III. Means to excel in business
IV. Means to communicate and build interpersonal
relationships with the world
V. Means to preserve and spread ones’ culture
e.g. Ali, A. (1941)‘Twilight in Delhi’
Jahan, B. (1963)‘Delhi ki aik Shaam’

6.  Independent translation centers
 Professional translator teams
 Freelance translators
 Translation studies department in universities
(Center for Languages and Translation Studies
UOG)
 Professional degrees and diplomas (National
University of Modern Languages (B.S & certificate in Translation
Studies)
 Grand scale translation of books (e.g. Translation of
Japanese Encyclopedia by Fan Diji,1904 in Shanghai)
 Translators are highly paid

7. Cultural turn
Susan Bassnett, Levy and Albrecht Neubert talked about
the cultural turn in translation. This approach claims that
every text belongs to a specific culture, translation is not
about preserving the culture of that SL, translation is ‘Re-
creation’ of the SL text in the TL in such a way that it
produces the same impact on the TL reader.

8. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day
Thou art more lovely and more temperate”
(William Shakespeare)
“And verily, We have made Quran easy for
remembering, is there then any one to
remember?”
(Al Quran, Surah Al Qamar,17)

9. Technological advancements in the world has brought new
trends in translation process as well. These recent trends
in translation are following:
 Machine translation
(software like Systran, Trados)
 Translation memory software
 automated real-time translations (both spoken & written)
 Computer Assisted Translation
 Digital dictionaries
 Collaborative translation
 Transliteration

10. Translation in 21st century is not limited to literary or non-
literary texts only, its scope has widened so far, now
translations are used in the following areas as well:
 Films & TV drama Dubbing (Oral Interlingual)
 Subtitles (intersemiotic)
 Surtitles (intersemiotic)
 Complete written lyrics of the song (intersemiotic)
 Instructional manuals in more than one language
 Games and websites user-interface in more than one
language
 Bar codes (intersemiotic)

11.  Transliteration (Roman English ‘MAIN KHANA KHAA
RAHA HOON’)
 TV channels are dubbing their transmissions in urdu
 Arooj
 Geo Kahani
 See TV
 Urdu 1
 Professional training for translator
 International Islamic University, Islamabad. (B.S & M.S in
Translation Studies)
 National University of Modern Languages (B.S & certificate in
Translation Studies)
 Digital Dictionaries
 Professional translation services like (‘Pakistanis.pk’,
‘translationdirectory.pk & paklingo.com)
 Real-time translation (helpline services in Urdu and
English)

12.  Anderman, G. & Rogers, M. (2003) ‘Translation Today :
Trends and Perspectives’
 Bassnett, S.(2003) ‘Translation Studies’
 Delabastita, D. (2003) ‘Translation Studies for 21st
century: Trends & Perspectives’
 Hermans, T. (1540) ‘The Way to Translate Well from
one Language to Another’
 Nair, V.S. & Mishra, A.K. (2014) ‘Translation Today.’