Review 3: Thinking on Translation and Interpreting in Banská Bystrica (2017)

Review 3: Thinking on Translation and Interpreting in Banská Bystrica (2017)
Reviewed by Zuzana Jánošíková

Monograph Banskobystrické myslenie o preklade a tlmočení [Thinking on Translation and Interpreting in Banská Bystrica] (2017) by Vladimír Biloveský and Ivan Šuša can be considered a remarkably significant publication within the field of translation studies especially for its comprehensive character. Thanks to approaching the topic from various points of view, it can enrich great variety of its target audience ranging from university students to other researchers as well as practitioners in the field.
The first section gives a brief overview of the history of translation studies in Banská Bystrica. Starting from the beginnings, it emphasizes the major points during the development of what today belongs to one of the well-established institutions specialized in translation and interpreting in Slovakia. This chapter also introduces the reader to the most significant personalities contributing to the development of the language and translation studies departments, the current staff (academic year 2017/2018) together with some of the graduates active in the field of translation and interpreting.
Chapter two provides an alphabetical order of names of the researchers who have contributed to the growth of translation studies in Banská Bystrica, specifies their professional profiles and offers the list of their most significant works together with an annotation of one selected work. This part includes also the profiles of those who no longer actively participate in the research activities in Banská Bystrica, but have influenced the course of its development to great extent.
Next part deals with the content of study programs within the study field of translation studies. It is focused on particular levels of education (bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, specialized postgraduate forms of study, and doctoral studies) and also comments on various specific aspects of the students training such as university courses or specialized classrooms for teaching translation or interpreting.
Integrating real practice into academic life of students is examined in the fourth chapter. It introduces mainly the concept of University Translation and Interpreting Center designed to provide students of master’s degree real-life experience during their studies. The chapter describes also other events building bridges between the academic sphere and practice such as discussions, lectures, internships etc.
The fifth section presents research and project activities within the field of TS of the Department of Translation Studies as well as other language and literature oriented departments. These projects and grants dealing with the questions of translation studies or comparative research of languages and literatures are listed and specified in this part.
Following the fifth section, chapter six analyzes other types of scientific activities such as international conferences, workshops, seminars etc. organized in Banská Bystrica. Attention is paid also to selected publications, various relevant journals or lectures.
As mentioned in the introduction, we believe that this review truly demonstrates the comprehensive approach of the authors offering some important insights into the thinking on translation and interpreting in Banská Bystrica. It can be seen as a summary of all important facts related to the translation studies development in Banská Bystrica including the profiles of personalities contributing to its growth, publications, projects, journals and activities relevant to the field up to the present. Although the tradition of translation studies at Matej Bel University can be perceived as relatively young, especially compared to other institutions of this kind in Slovakia, the reviewed publication shows its constant and dynamic development. Therefore, there is no doubt that this publication marking the 20th anniversary of translation studies in Banská Bystrica maps only the first successful stages of its further development.