Translators are offered jobs where they face unexpected cultural and social groups. This globalized world is constantly presenting us with challenges. And there is no general recipe for success when there are no previously established communication channels.
These days we hear about the translator’s invisibility. It is time to give them their fair share. Translating subjects are, after all, human beings: they deserve having a place and, at the same time, they are limited, finite. With limited knowledge, education, and abilities. At the same time, with memories, prejudices, dreams, and the ubiquitous subconscious. How can we be sure that such a person is able to perform the best translation in a given new cultural situation?
The answer lies in a translation project. Every translating subject should formulate their own project, considering specific objectives, with a conscious intention, determined both by the translational position and by the specific constraints set by the work to be translated, its context, the target audience and many other aspects. Being faithful to their own translation project is the only way a translating subject can be sure of professional fair play when facing the uncertainties of unexplored fields.
Fabio Descalzi (Montevideo, 1968) is a freelance translator, lecturer, and architect, as well as being a writer, blogger, and Wikipedist. He is a native speaker of Spanish, masters German and English, and speaks several other languages. His professional activity includes the translation of Contemporary Museums: Architecture by Chris van Uffelen, tender documents, infrastructure projects, and patents. He lectures Telework in Translation. He has been a registered member of IAPTI since 2009, and an Honorary Member of Yvy Marãe’ỹ Foundation since August 2016.