Hands on work... of translation!

Abstract

Departing from several opinions of Portuguese translators published in para-textual elements associated to translated works, there is a move towards a sociological approach of translational performance. It is essential to refer the idea that a committed translator needs to be highly knowledgeable to be able to do any kind of translation work, although he may be unconscious of such knowledge. In this article there is an attempt at describing briefly some of the tasks associated to the translator’s work and to its execution modes. The strategies to be developed or else some type of conditioning present in the texts to translate are some of the factors that have to be taken into consideration. But it is also indispensable to know the set of resources that a translator has at hand, such as translation notes, to do and publish a literary or non-literary translation.