Whenever Cato the Elder (234-149 BC) had the opportunity to speak in the Rome Senate, he would utter the complete sentence: Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam (“Carthago mut be destroyed”) or parts of it, almost to the point of absurdity.
The sentence has evolved and has a common modern use in order to emphasise to third parties the strength of one’s opinion about a perceived necessary course of action.
I will share with the audience the current strengths and weaknesses of specialised translation, focusing on my opinion that the cornerstones of translation are playing wrong roles today: reading, curiosity, the balance between linguistic and technical backgrounds, CPD and, most of all, love for translation.
Destroying our beautiful profession? Not at all! (I warn you, it was only a tricky title). But please take my advice into consideration: a “new profession” may be created. We have the tools. We have the institutions, the leaders and their dictionaries. We have the targets. Now we need some young blood to move this task forward.
This presentation is aimed at professional translators looking for specialisation, highly specialised professional translators and translators interested in a new way of understanding our profession.
