The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/883785
thelinguist.uberflip.com 21 FEATURES negative emotions and experiences, translators learn to neutralise the emotional impact of challenging events. It would seem that one of the secrets to good emotion management is, therefore, to be patient. Educational links Another striking finding in my study was the link found between education and emotional skills. The higher the level of education, the better translators seemed to be at regulating and expressing their emotions. Academic performance has been linked to emotional competence in other fields, but it was interesting to note a similar trend for professional translators. The idea that highly educated translators are better able to function emotionally makes sense. Translators who inherently cope well with emotional stress and anxiety are more likely to achieve well academically and to stay in education; while translators who do not cope as well with emotions may learn to do so while in education, as the longer they engage with the intense experiences of academic life the better they will be at managing them. Take the example of a student on an undergraduate translation degree: throughout her studies, she experiences positive emotions when successfully completing challenging assignments but experiences negative emotions when the problematic dynamics of a group-work situation impact on how well she performs in an important task. These rich emotional experiences shape her behaviour and the longer she stays in this kind of learning environment, the more proficient she becomes at handling both cognitive and affective issues in and around her work. So it would seem that education and emotional competences have a mutually beneficial impact on one another. Learning to cope There is no simple answer when it comes to translators managing their emotions. A number of different factors are involved. However, there are strategies that can be learnt and that can positively influence whether translators stay in the profession. As such, it seems that employers, educators and those concerned with the professional development of translators would do well to engage with translators' emotional development. Given the potential for emotional involvement in translation work, translators should be prepared to handle some of the emotions they may encounter when working. It makes sense for translators to spend some time reflecting on their emotional triggers, and considering how they handle various texts and contexts which are likely to elicit strong emotions. But if emotional skills are likely to develop with age and experience, is it really necessary to try to develop them? I would argue that it is and that engagement with these issues, even at an early stage in a translator's career, may go some way towards preparing them for what lies ahead, possibly influencing their future engagement with the profession. The results of my study led me to the conclusion that more efforts were needed to help translators to become more skilled in dealing with emotion-laden and difficult issues in their work, to be less stressed and depleted after emotional work, to develop a self-aware and balanced attitude towards their work, and to respond more effectively to environmental demands. To come back to Aristotle, educating the translator's mind without educating the heart is no education at all. Séverine Hubscher-Davidson's Translation and Emotion: A psychological perspective (Routledge) will be published in December.