Translators revising translators: a fruitful alliance

Abstract

This article discusses the revision process in a non-profit digital publisher led by translators and aims to fill the research gap with regard to the revision process in literary translation. ¡Hjckrrh! is a non-profit publishing initiative that has published 21 e-books translated from 7 different languages, with the collaboration of 14 translators. This article discusses the revision process in ¡Hjckrrh! by documenting the making of two e-books. We use multiple sources of data collection: 16 in-depth interviews with participants (translators, revisers, a proofreader, the cover designer); participants' reflective diaries; fieldnotes from our participant observation in the form of reflective diaries; e-mail correspondence between the participants; translation drafts; and drafts of the paratexts. This article describes the workflow and provides an overview of the revision process in ¡Hjckrrh!. The article pays special attention to the negotiation of decisions and the interactions between the actors. The conclusions show that translators appreciate a detailed revision and are willing to take part in the final decision making. The detailed documentation of the process shows that the boundaries between the various revision stages are blurred and that the revision of style and language permeates the whole process.

Diverse, ambivalente et difficile. La révision dans tous ses états

“…2. Pour être tout à fait exact, plusieurs travaux ont été publiés à ce sujet en traduction littéraire depuis l'élaboration du projet de thèse (Marin-Lacarta et Vargas-Urpi, 2019 ;Solum, 2017 ;Zlatnar Moe et al, 2021)…”