consecrated translator/publisher

Vicky Nash (asker) Feb 10, 2022:

While there is plenty of abstract sociology jargon in the text, because of the link to Islam, I had assumed this term was used in a religious sense rather than an abstract sense - I'd made the connection with the other terms because I'd had to look them up as they were so obscure! I think I've fully learned the 'ass-u-me' lesson with this one!

philgoddard Feb 10, 2022:

That explains it! I don't think any of us realized that this was abstract sociology jargon rather than plain English - we should have asked for more context.

I looked this up, and the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu did indeed give his own specific meaning to the word "consecration". If I understand it correctly, the idea is that in culture, people and ideas are consecrated, given legitimacy, by their audiences - so our legitimacy as traditional professional translators is being challenged by amateurs with big audiences of their own.

Bourdieu also used the terms "agency" and "doxic", so your author is correct after all.

Vicky Nash (asker) Feb 10, 2022:

I asked the author and thought I'd put you all out of your misery - it's a Bordieusian term and needs to be retained - I'll certainly be looking at whether it's used correctly/appropriately now I understand the context, but I think that clears it up from a linguistic point of view. Thanks again for all your help.

Vicky Nash (asker) Feb 10, 2022:

Thanks all. I will ask the author. In the context of the text, the Arabic translations provided by the official/'consecrated' translator/publisher are in keeping with Islam (including huge abridgements), so the religion factor does come in here and I need to know if there's an actual process by which the publishing house is 'consecrated'. Perhaps this was the wrong forum to ask for a definitive answer, but I appreciate all your inputs.

Lara Barnett Feb 10, 2022:

@ Vicky I think you need to contact the author and explain that "consecrated" in English has a religious connotation. Then see what he says.

Yvonne Gallagher Feb 10, 2022:

as opposed to non-official fan-translations no I haven't. Perhaps YOU misunderstood the "as opposed to" bit?

philgoddard Feb 10, 2022:

Yvonne You've missed the point of the question. The "fan translators" work for free, often with large numbers of people cooperating on a single book. They are the online amateurs.

At least we're agreed that it's not about religion.

Yvonne Gallagher Feb 10, 2022:

Dedicated would work Certainly better than "traditional" and "professional" which mean nothing here. Who said anything about "online amateurs"??? The texts are assigned to designated (specific expert) translators and publishers who are experienced in the particular field.
Not everyone who speaks Arabic is Muslim! So why would non-sacred "Western novels" have to be translated/published by someone "consecrated" which makes no sense here at all. And being a Muslim is not a matter of being "consecrated"! I still think you need to ask the author what he wanted to say if you want to be sure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consecration#:~:text=Consecrat...

Lara Barnett Feb 10, 2022:

@ Vicky What about appointed, authorised or regulated? At the end of the day, as Phil suggested, each occurrence would need a different term, given English common collocational usage - if you know what I mean, i.e. we have fixed collocations that sound odd when varied too much.
Although, having said that, it could just mean "highly respected" or "honourable", and used as a sign of courtesy.

philgoddard Feb 10, 2022:

Dedicated wouldn't work As you say, it means they take it very seriously. The whole point is that the online amateurs take it just as seriously as the professionals.

Yvonne Gallagher Feb 10, 2022:

@ Asker the obvious person to ask is the author.
However, I still contend that he meant to say "dedicated" which can be seen as a synonym, in some cases for "consecrated".
c: to devote to a purpose with or as if with deep solemnity or dedication
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consecrate

philgoddard Feb 10, 2022:

I don't believe it has anything to do with religion.

Each of your examples needs a different term: in the first you could say "traditional", and the second "professional". The third already says "official", so you could leave it out.

"Agent" sounds wrong - an agent and a publisher are two different things. And "doxic" won't work either.

Vicky Nash (asker) Feb 10, 2022:

@Simona that would make sense, but the fans are also Muslim, so there must be another level to it somehow.

Vicky Nash (asker) Feb 10, 2022:

Three examples of context:

This shows how invested fans were in their forum, and also how they saw themselves and their forum as an important publication house that was no less important than consecrated ones, such as ....(name of publisher)

Those translations had been the subject of many complaints from fans and also from consecrated translators in the field such as (name of translator).

... and were able to challenge the doxic practices established by the consecrated official agent, (name of publisher), and its translators.

Lara Barnett Feb 10, 2022:

@ Vicky Can you give the context please, such as surrounding text or paragraph?

Simona Suzanna Muwazi Feb 10, 2022:

@Asker

Could it be that the publisher/translator is required to be Muslim and is in that case considered to be consecrated?

Lara Barnett Feb 10, 2022:

@ Asker I am with Yvonne, another option is appointed translator.

Vicky Nash (asker) Feb 10, 2022:

Sorry, I should have been clearer: the text is discussing religious orthodoxy and its impact on the translation, so it could definitely pertain to religion - hence I need to be sure.

Yvonne Gallagher Feb 10, 2022:

@ Asker maybe they meant to say "dedicated"? Just got the word wrong?