Book Review: Experimental Translation: The Work of Translation in the Age of Algorithmic Production
What is it about?
Amid the rapid rise of Neural Machine Translation and subsequent Large Language Models, what space remains for human agency in translation? In her 2024 work, Robert-Foley explores this question through experimental translation, critically engaging with the well-known seven translation procedures proposed by French linguists Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet. She argues that the established norms underlying these widely adopted procedures can be readily programmed into machines, which execute them with remarkable efficiency. In response, she reinterprets these procedures through cultural, historical, political, social, and economic lenses, reanimating them in their full materiality.
Why is it important?
The rise of the avant-garde is often linked to the invention of photography, just as the emergence of electronic literature is closely tied to the widespread adoption of personal computers. Materiality has long shaped the development of art and literature—but what about translation? Where are Neural Machine Translation (NMT) and Large Language Models (LLMs) taking the field? Robert-Foley (2024) addresses this question through experimental translation, pushing the boundaries of MT in literary contexts and drawing on her engagement with experimental writing. She critiques normative concepts of fidelity, equivalence, and accuracy, while condemning machine translation as a system of mere tokens and numerical values, detached from the binary signifier/signified model. Whether you are a translator grappling with technological anxiety, a translator trainer frequently confronted with the doubts of disheartened students, or a translation researcher uncertain about the future of the field, Robert-Foley’s (2024) Experimental Translation: The Work of Translation in the Age of Algorithmic Production offers a timely resource to restore confidence in human creativity and the irreplaceable value of human agency.