Estonian translators' approaches and attitudes towards translating sensitive texts

Abstract

The aim of the present thesis is to examine the attitudes towards a translator’s social responsibilities and approaches to translating sensitive texts among working Estonian translators. There does not seem to be any trouble with understanding personal accountability for what has been expressed when it comes to the author of a text, but the role of translators is usually seen as much less significant or secondary. However, ideas can only spread insofar as they are understandable to new audiences, and that is contributed to by translations. This way of transmission of ideas is especially important in the case of Estonian, where the number of native speakers is small and the translation flow is overwhelmingly from other languages to Estonian, not the other way around. This means that in addition to authors being responsible for what they express and publish, it is worth examining the role of translators on this matter, since they serve as proxies for much of the information coming in. It should be noted that it is not the author’s intention to find an applicable prescriptive approach, but to describe how Estonian translators approach sensitive texts.