Self-translators' teloi

The paper gives an overview of the motivations or teloi underlying the decision of certain authors to translate their own works into another language rather than entrusting professional translators with it. Self-translators’ teloi are divided into two categories: intrinsic or internal teloi, i.e. linked to linguistic, psycholinguistic, textual and esthetical factors, and extrinsic or external, i.e. determined by socio-political, ideological and commercial forces. By taking into account the different prestige and power of the authors’ linguistic configurations as well as the co-existence of more teloi within individual self-translating experiences and the changing nature of the goals the authors intent to achieve with their self-translations, the investigation reveals interesting and intriguing connections between the authors’ ultimate motivations for self-translating, the choice of the texts to translate and the translation methods adopted.