An “important contribution to Philippine linguistics and language studies,” was how Maria Kristina S. Gallego, PhD, chair of the UP Diliman (UPD) Department of Linguistics (DLing) described the book Translation Studies in the Philippines: Navigating a Multilingual Archipelago (Translation Studies in the Philippines) at its launch.

“The book is a big contribution to the fields of linguistics and language studies in that it puts into the center stage the Philippines as a multilingual country and demonstrates how language, primarily through the lenses of translation, is deeply connected to various areas of our social and political life, such as disaster mitigation and crisis communication, gender and sexuality, as well as the marginalization of our ethnolinguistic groups,” Gallego said.

Composed of nine chapters by 12 authors from the UPD College of Arts and Letters (CAL), UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP), and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), the book is co-edited by Riccardo Moratto, PhD and Mary Ann G. Bacolod, PhD.

Moratto is a professor of translation and interpreting studies at the Graduate Institute of Interpretation and Translation of Shanghai International Studies University, while Bacolod is an associate professor at DLing.

According to Bacolod, who is also one of the book chapter authors (On the Translatability of Filipino Modals and its Impact on Disaster Communication), the book is a “transformative journey” that go through the “scientific methods and analysis in translation.”

“The book delves into a wide array of translation forms and their applications beyond literature, underscoring translation significance across diverse domains. It offers valuable insights into the progression of translation and its profound impact on different perspectives as well as its adaptability in response to rapid technological advancements and its engagement in increasingly pressing and pertinent issues,” Bacolod said.

Presented at the book launch were two chapters: A Concise History of Translation in the Philippines by Naidyl Isis Bautista and Anna Marie Sibayan-Sarmiento, PhD, an assistant professor and an associate professor at the Department of European Languages (DEL), respectively; and Lost for Words: The Untranslatability of Some Tagalog Words and Phrases by Jesus Federico C. Hernandez, an associate professor at DLing.

Aside from Bautista and Sibayan-Sarmiento, two book chapter authors are from CAL. They are Marlon James Sales, PhD, an associate professor at the DEL (Translation and Interpreting Education in the Philippines: A Preliminary Country Profile) and Vladimeir B. Gonzales, PhD, a professor at the Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas (Performing Disappearance and Resurfacing: Viewing the World Through Theater Translation in the Academe).

Aside from Bacolod and Hernandez, five other CSSP faculty members authored three other book chapters: Beyond Constraints: Advancing Linguistic Consensus in Filipino Subtitling by Michael Manahan, a lecturer at DLing; Gender Bias in Machine Translation: The Case of Filipino-English Translation in Google Translate by Divine Angeli P. Endriga and Francisco C. Rosario Jr., assistant professors at DLing; and The Biblical, the Moral, and the Legal: Juxtaposing Filipino/Tagalog Translations of Biblical Passages and Local Views on Sex, Gender, and Sexuality by Jem R. Javier, PhD, an associate professor at DLing and CSSP college secretary, and Madilene B. Landicho, an assistant professor at the Department of Anthropology.

Honeylet E. Dumoran, an associate professor at the MSU-IIT College of Arts and Social Sciences authored the chapter Necessary Infidelity: Obligatory Shifts in Translating Audiovisual Texts for Children.

Copies of the book were given to CSSP and its library, and were received by CSSP Dean Ruth R. Lusterio-Rico and CSSP Head Librarian Rhoel E. Rondilla at the book launch.

Gallego said the event was the third installment of DLing’s Paglulunsad at Paglalayag “which celebrates the publications and projects of our colleagues in the department.”

Those interested in buying a copy of the book may visit bit.ly/translationstudiesph.

The book launch was held on May 30 at the CSSP AVR 207 of Palma Hall.