Translation tools in the Galician digital context: A case study

Abstract

Globalization has pushed subaltern cultural systems to the margins of the international flow of economic and cultural capital. Such is the case of the Galician system, which is dependent on the Spanish one, situated at the top of the hierarchy in the Spanish state and receiving most of the public investments. Despite the scarcity of budgets allocated to projects in Galician, some studies (Montero Küpper, 2017, 2020) have shown that translation plays a crucial role in the sociocultural establishment of Galicia and in the normalization of the language. Similarly, the increasing development of technology has prompted the adoption of digital resources and tools to assist/optimize the translation process. The creation of tools and resources for languages such as English further highlights the contrasting technological shortcomings for minority languages like Galician. Nevertheless, González (2005) points to the emergence of different translation tools and resources that work with Galician, although they are not considered as sufficient. Our research is framed in this theoretical context, aiming to analyze the attitudes/perceptions of Galician translation professionals towards digital tools and resources and investigate how technology affects their work in Galicia. As for the methodology, we conducted a questionnaire following an approach stemming from the Sociology of Translation, since we considered this to be decisive so as to define, in sociodemographic terms, our sample of professionals. The questions asked allowed us to analyze professionals’ attitudes towards translation tools and resources, the outcomes of which will be discussed in detail in this article.