The focus of this article is to bring together, analyse and classify various studies on the operations performed by a translator during the transfer process from one language to another. Within the field of translation theory, these operations have been researched from a wide range of perspectives and have been assigned a multitude of labels, among which we have 'procedures', 'techniques', 'strategies', 'processes', 'methods', etc. In this article I refer to them under the generic name of 'translation process operators'. The confusing use of terminology and concepts has encouraged the fragmentation of a branch of translation research that proves to be more homogeneous than may appear at first sight. This article draws on and analyses the overwhelming profusion of terms and concepts concerning translation process operators, based on the most commonly used notions employed by many scholars.

En traduction, comme dans d’autres disciplines, la notion de problème a suscité un intérêt croissant au cours des dernières années. Néanmoins, l’ensemble des travaux consacrés à l’analyse du problème de traduction est loin de constituer un axe de recherche homogène, ce qui est encore aggravé par le manque d’études synthétisant et contrastant les différents apports sur la question. Pour pallier cette lacune, le présent article analyse et met en lumière la notion de problème telle qu’elle a été développée par quelques spécialistes importants du processus de traduction. La première partie passe en revue la notion de problème dans d’autres disciplines. La seconde recueille et analyse les principales études relatives au problème de traduction et aux différentes approches. Elle établit également une relation entre les processus de résolution de problèmes en traduction et les stratégies de traduction. Notre contribution vise à une meilleure compréhension des processus de résolution de problèmes en traduction, et à présenter une rétrospective de travaux parmi les plus significatifs dans ce domaine.In translation, as in other disciplines, the notion of problem has generated growing interest over recent years. However, studies centred on the translation problem taken as a whole, still do not represent a homogeneous research trend, and this is further aggravated by the lack of studies which compare and contrast the different contributions on this matter. In response to this need, this article analyses and develops the notion of problem as it has been described by some leading scholars reflecting on the translation process. In the first part, the notion of problem as seen from other disciplines is reviewed. In the second part, the main studies on the translation problem and different approaches are compared and analysed, and relate problem-solving processes in translation with translation strategies. The aim of this article is to further our understanding of the problem-solving processes in operation during translation, and to present a retrospective of some of the most significant works in this field

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This article works from the premise that translation, given its hybrid nature, plays a decisive role in constructing discourses of otherness and identity. Orientalist translation is an excellent source for studying the discourse of otherness, while also providing a wealth of information of how “Self” is perceived and represented. In the case of Spanish orientalism, the construction of such discourses is particularly complex due to the nature of the topic under study: al-Andalus, the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims at various times in the period between 711 and 1492. According to Martínez Montávez, al-Andalus has always had two facets: the real and historical which ended in 1492, the other figurative and symbolic which has survived until today. This article analyses the peritexts in the translation of a famous Andalusian treatise on geography carried out by José Antonio Conde, one of the first prominent figures in Spanish Arabism. Our analysis applies the semiotic construction model of otherness proposed by Carbonell (2003 and 2004), a model which we have adapted to Foucault’s notions of discourse, discursive structure and statement (ennoncé) (1990 [1969], 2001 [1966], 2002 [1971]), Widdowson’s notions of text, context and pretext (2004) and Genette’s (1987) notion ofperitext.

Translation, like any other mechanism of text production, has the intrinsic potential of both producing and reinforcing a specific discourse. In spite of the never-ending debate about the discursive character of academic knowledge and Edward Said’s particular interpretation of Foucault in Orientalism, it is difficult to deny that for a long time many European universities have fostered some of the most important misconceptions about Arab culture(s). In this kind of academic discourse, translation plays a central role. Translated texts are one step further than those texts written about the other, for they are themselves the other (or at least a part of it).We are indebted to countless generations of scholars responsible for most translations from Arabic. Nevertheless, the time has come to ask ourselves some important questions. Which texts have been translated from Arabic by European scholars and why? Which criteria have been used to translate these texts instead of others? What has been the influence of these translations on the target culture? Which representations of Arab culture can we find in these translations and their paratexts (introductions, forewords, reviews, footnotes, etc.)?
 Arabic studies in Spain have been reviewed by J. T. Monroe, Manzanares de Cirre, López García, etc., yet none of them have approached directly the problem of translation or its implications for the construction of a specific canon. In Spain, this canon has been restricted to the Andalusian heritage for a long time (especially in the fields of history, philosophy, theology, sciences and poetry) and to some universal works, such as The Arabian Nights, and has only opened itself to other spheres of the Arab culture in the last decades.
 My aim in this paper is to present, from a critical perspective, some of the results of my analysis of a corpus of translations from Arabic — carried out by an eminent Spanish Arabist — and to use these results to understand how translation has helped to construct a specific academic discourse in Spain about Arab culture and particularly about al-Andalus.