Rewriting and the Transeditor’s Mediating Presence.

The scenario in which translators operate today is a complex one as they are required to handle an ever-increasing volume of texts covering a myriad of genres and to perform intralingual, interlingual and intersemiotic communication activities once considered as lying beyond the confines of translation proper. As a consequence, the focus of attention in translation research is gradually shifting to explore the central role played by translators as active mediating presences in rewriting texts to fit the expectations of the recipient audiences and, in particular, to make target texts clearer and more accessible. Since rewriting generally entails some degree of recontextualisation and adjustment carried out in relation to the goals, values and interests of the new recipient context, attention is focussed on the personal goals of rewriters, the types of active intervention they exert in the mediation process and the repercussions their translation behaviour has on the receiving culture. Transediting is a form of rewriting that is particulary recipient-oriented and where the translator’s interventionist role is a central feature. The present paper aims to define transediting as a form of rewriting and to explore such strategies as additions, deletions, substitutions, rearrangements and elaborations, which transeditors use to achieve their goal of rendering the target text accessible to its recipient.