What We Talk about When We Talk about Revision: A critical overview on terminology, professional practices and training, and the case of literary translation revision in Italy

As part of the research work on revision I am currently carrying out for my PhD thesis in Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies, I was confronted from the very start with a difficult task: trying to establish what is meant by the term revision and its supposed synonyms in the general field of Translation Studies and in all the other areas where revision seems to play an active role. Starting from general scholarly definitions of revision and other related terms, I will then illustrate the various facets of the revision process and its meaning when applied to the practice of translation. I will consider revision at work in three different translation-related contexts: within the quality process standards that translation service providers and international institutions are required to comply with; as a learning tool in translator education and training; and as a key stage in the process of original writing and literary translation. For each of these I will discuss peculiarities, procedures, and actors involved. I will then focus on the case of revision in literary translation in Italy presenting the preliminary results of a qualitative survey recently carried out on the what, who, where, when, how and why of revision and finally suggesting a few recommendations. The ultimate objective is to shed light on the confusing, overlapping and sometimes contrasting terminology used so far to indicate this crucial phase of any writing process and consequently to promote better knowledge of the revision process in all its aspects and implications.