Investigating the Sociological Turn in the Arabic Translation of Online Knowledge-Sharing Platform about Syrian Refugees

This study examines the translation process as a socially embedded practice, beginning with translators as members of specific social systems and extending to how translations are shaped by social institutions. The objective of the study is to investigate how the communicative effect inscribed in the target text influences the translator’s decisions and highlights the interplay between human and non-human actants in the translation process. Therefore, the study addresses three interconnected questions. First, it investigates how the communicative effect embedded in the Arabic target text reflects the translator’s decisions on the textual level. Secondly, the study examines the set of dispositions guiding the translator’s decisions and explores how the translator acquires these dispositions. Finally, it addresses how institutional values of online platforms affect the translator’s choices through the set of dispositions (habitus) guiding his decisions. The study adopts an integrated theoretical framework combining Nord’s model of text analysis, Bourdieu’s notion of habitus, and Latour’s actor-network theory. A qualitative research method, including textual analysis and contextual investigation, was used to analyze one English- Arabic TED.com transcript, specifically, the narratives of Syrian refugees. The findings reveal that the Arabic translation communicates emotional and ideological narratives regarding the Syrian refugee crisis, shaped by the translator’s set of dispositions, which are shaped by institutional values and social contexts. The research contributes to understanding the multidisciplinary nature of translation studies, and it encourages further studies into the influence of non-human actants, such as technology and algorithms to shape translation decisions within more extensive sociological networks.