The International Translator Throughout History

Translation as a profession dates back to the Mesopotamian era, with the translation of Gilgamesh into Asian languages. Throughout history, translation has been closely intertwined with religion and academia. Notably, Buddhist monks were responsible for translating Indian documents into Chinese; Roman poets translated ancient Greeks and Arabic scholars translated Greek academics. Overall, we owe the dissemination of knowledge across countries about philosophy and literary entertainment, to academic translation and an international translator.

Among three of the most recognized translators in history are: Chinese monk Xuanzang who is responsible for translating 74 volumes on Indian Buddhist scripts into Chinese; Constance Garnett, who translated Russian classics such as Tolstoy, Chekhov, Turgenev and Gogol into English towards the end of the 19th Century; and finally, Gregory Rabassa, an American literary translator who translated various Latin documents to English.

3 Key Moments: An International Translator in context

Initially, translation as a profession grew along with religion.  There was a desire to spread the word religious texts in multiple languages. For this reason, the Old Testament was one of the first religious texts, which was translated into Greek. Overall, it took about 70 scholars to convert the text.  However, in doing so, they created the basis for future translations of the Bible to multiple languages.

Later on, the Industrial Revolution led to the development of the economy and significant potential for global success. The creation of machines enhanced the production of business materials and texts. As companies gained greater capabilities to work faster, more time could be invested in evolving the company. Along with the rapid business expansion came the need for business document translation in order for companies to enter foreign markets.

To this day, an international translator remains a key component to any business. This remains true even as the internet impacts the industry with automatic translation tools. The current global business environment still requires professional translation services because people (not machines) are crucial to understand the culture of a country and the target audience. As the technological advancements continue to expand the translation field, they will create new jobs and specializations that require a human touch: from patent translation to blockchain translation. Translators will continue to be an imperative part of culture and technological advancements for decades to come.