Mona Baker

Mona Baker ( born September 29, 1953) is a Professor of Translation Studies at the University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology ( UMIST ). My scientific interest is the role of ethics in science and education and the application of narrative theory in the field of translation in particular. Born in Cairo scientist working with the languages ​​Arabic and English.

Career

The Egyptian-born Mona Baker has earned her bachelor's degree in English and Comparative Literature at the American University in Cairo. This was followed by a degree in applied linguistics at the University of Birmingham, where she graduated with MA. After she completed her doctorate and habilitation at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology ( UMIST ), where she still holds a chair today. In 1995, Baker, the publishing house of St. Jerome Publishing and the international trade magazine for Translator The Translator.

Memberships and visiting professorships

Since 2004, Mona Baker Co - Vice President of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies ( IATIS ). Since 2009 she is an honorary member of the International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters ( IAPTI ).

Political commitment

On its homepage Baker calling for a boycott of Israel. In 2002, the professor signed a petition against Israeli academics and research, then they dismissed as editor of The Translator, two Israeli linguists from the editorial team. The professor said: "Israel has gone beyond mere war crimes, it is atrocious what goes on there, many of us would also like to speak as the Holocaust, the world will perceive at some point, much too late, of course, like last time. .. " She added, " I regret that the state of Israel exists ." Against Israelis, as such, she has allegedly nothing: the two academics were allowed to keep their job if they were ready to move to the UK and to break away from their home country. The petition was signed by 700 academics from different countries, including 10 Israelis. This action provoked a hot debate how you can separate politics and science.

Reaction of academics

A dismissed Gideon Toury replied: "I am quite satisfied, an Israeli to sein.Tatsächlich I owe my life to this fact, the only reason I exist is that my father and my mother - each for himself - succeeded. Germany to leave the mid and late 30s and going to Palestine, as the country was then called. They were the only of their families, who managed that. "

His colleague, who dismissed Professor Schlesinger, who worked in West Bank for Amnesty International in the area of ​​supply of Palestinian cities, stressed, they doubt that a boycott of Israeli academics will cause the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

The Shakespeare expert Professor Stephen Greenblatt of Harvard called Baker's actions as " abominable ", " dangerous" and " intellectually and morally bankrupt ." He said, "If one excludes scholars of their passport or their skin color, religion or political party affiliation, it corrupts the integrity of intellectual work."

After these events, many academics refused to come to Israel to participate in conferences, or research projects, on the one hand for safety, on the other hand, because such participation as a political statement would could be construed.

Works

• Critical Concepts: Translation Studies. Routledge, London / New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-415-34422-7.
• Critical Readings in Translation Studies. Routledge, London / New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-415-46955-5.
• Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. Routledge, London / New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-415-60984-5.
• Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account. Routledge, London / New York 2006, ISBN 0-415-38396- X.
• In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. Routledge, London / New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-415-03085-4.