Power and Control in Translation: Between Ideology and Censorship

This paper addresses the issue of censorship in translation as a form of control over the readers which results in the manipulation or rewriting of the source text(s). Translation is undoubtedly one of the most fertile grounds for studying this phenomenon as it is not viewed as a neutral activity by many scholars. From a linguistic point of view, translation is made up of words which may carry with them a particular ideological positioning. From a cultural point of view, translation is an activity which takes place in real socio-political and economic situations where people may have significant interests in the production or reproduction of a specific text in a given community. Translators may face a great deal of pressure in their work in terms of quality standards, faithfulness, ideology and censorship. Translation may be subjected to several conscious acts of selection, addition and/or omission. Studying a translation from a censorship or ideological perspective means analysing all those cases of manipulation which occur in the text. Censorship and ideology have at times been viewed as meaning the same. Both may be a result of external and/or internal pressure which may lead to manipulation or rewriting of a text. There are various forms of censorship which can be detected in translation, such as preventive, repressive and self-censorship. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it introduces the concepts of ideology and censorship by providing details about their definition(s) and developments within the field of Translation Studies. Second, it focuses more specifically on the issue of censorship and an attempt will be made to list and explain its possible causes in translation. Several types of translation censorship will also be classified according to historical periods and socio-political movements by providing a few practical examples.