News translation: Global or cosmopolitan connections?

Abstract

This article examines the changing context for the study of news translation with reference to three disciplines: social theory, translation studies and media studies. It argues that the attention given to translation in the context of what has been called the new cosmopolitanism favours a new perception of the significance of multilingualism and translation and also forces us to ask new questions about the cultural and social role of translation. In particular, it is necessary to empirically examine to what extent can the news become a space of cosmopolitan openness to others or whether this is precluded by structural constraints. This implies challenging sociological approaches that simply assume the possibility of overcoming ethnocentrism through translation in order to show how certain translation strategies might be conducive to cosmopolitan openness whereas others are not. In this light, the cultural and ethical implications of processes of domestication of foreign news are discussed. A focus on translation also illuminates aspects that have systematically been neglected by studies deploying a national or a traditional comparative approach: the multiplicity of connections and influences across borders.