As opportunities for transnational engagements continue to increase in the age of globalization, there is a pressing need for responsible methods that attend to the power asymmetries inherent in all comparative endeavors. Scholars of comparative rhetoric have called attention to the importance of self-reflexivity and the ethical complexities of speaking for/about others. Meanwhile, scholars in translation studies have grappled with similar questions as an increase in intercultural research across disciplines has brought translation issues to the fore. This paper examines advancements in translation studies scholarship that have inspired translation scholar-practitioners to embrace self-reflexive practices in their work. One promising way forward is calling for more nuanced, personal accounts of the hidden labor of translation in comparative work: honest accounts that confront, rather than suppress, the frustration and disorientation that often accompany such labor. I conclude with implications for the first-year writing classroom.
Emily Yuko Cousins (Wed,) studied this question.