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Do translations go underappreciated in tenure & promotion?

Ethan Linehan writes in:

One often hears that scholarly translations are always relied upon but seldom appreciated, that they hardly count at all in tenure review, etc.

Do Cocoon readers agree that scholarly translations often go underappreciated, despite the expertise required to produce them? If so, why does this happen?

How does the tenure review process currently value translation work? Can anyone share anecdotes where translation efforts were either overlooked or properly recognized?

In what ways might the conversation change for better or for worse regarding how academia values translation work given the increasing capabilities of AI-driven translation?

Interesting questions. I've never seen these issues come up in my career, as I don't think I've ever been on a T&P committee where a candidate had done a translation.

What do readers think? It would be especially good to hear from readers who have gone up for tenure having done a translation, as well as from people who have served on T&P committees.

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6 responses to “Do translations go underappreciated in tenure & promotion?”

  1. Martin Lenz

    Translations (and editions) are notoriously underappreciated in the profession, not just in tenure and promotion, but also in graduate studies.
    That said, translation should be honoured as a philosophical skill – just like work on logic: https://handlingideas.blog/2018/08/05/on-translating-as-a-philosophical-skill/

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  2. B

    Ethan
    You should talk to people who have done significant translations, for example, Alex Levine, at South Florida. We the readers have certainly appreciated his work – but you can ask him whether it was useful or appreciated in his bids for promotions and tenure.

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  3. Tim O’Keefe

    I imagine that how much it would “count” is going to vary a lot from department to department. So what you should do is ask the people at your institution how much a translation would count, and hopefully get that in writing. It might also depend on what all is part of the publication: is it only the translation itself? (I don’t disagree with Martin that this can be significant.) Or does to also have a commentary, or an introductory essay, and if so, how substantial is it, and does it simply summarize a bunch of well-established stuff, or is it a significant piece of philosophical research in itself?

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  4. Jacob Joseph Andrews

    I have a strong Latin background, and in grad school multiple profs from multiple schools specifically discouraged me from doing translation work because it would count for so little relative to the amount of work it takes.
    I have done translations since, and it’s some of the hardest and most interesting philosophical work I’ve done. I think it’s hard for people who haven’t done philosophy in two languages to appreciate how much translation is philosophical work, not just linguistic. I very much resonate with Martin Lenz’ blog post: there’s a big gap between getting grammar right and actually producing a text that is at once comprehensible in the target language and faithful to the original. Linguistic expertise doesn’t get you there.

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  5. Michael Walschots

    I don’t mean for this to be self-promotion, but I’m early(ish)-career and I just completed a translation volume (see here: https://www.cambridge.org/9781108810487 ). I started the project towards the end of my PhD, and it took me 7-ish years to complete. I was discouraged from taking on the project by some mentors for the reasons you mention: 1) isn’t as highly respected as top-tier journal articles, 2) questionable how it might count for promotion/tenure/even getting a job, etc. I decided to pursue the project because I thought it was worthwhile and was interested in doing it. Since it just came out I can’t yet tell you if it was worth it from the ‘job’ perspective – but merely having it under contract (and with a good press) has NOT helped me on the job market so far. I will say, however, that regardless of how institutions or promotion committees regard translation work, anyone working in the history of philosophy will know how hard and philosophically demanding translation work is and will respect what you do. It has certainly given me good networking opportunities, for example. Come ask me once the book has been out for a few years if it helped my job prospects at all… Most important thing is: translations are VERY time-consuming, and that will take away from your focus on top-tier journal articles, which (along with institutional prestige) are the only reliable things that help on the market, imo.

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  6. Jacob Joseph Andrews

    Here’s some things to encourage young scholars to (assuming it is prudential) take up translation, and maybe slowly change our discipline’s culture. One reason I love translation work is that, although it is just as philosophically demanding as writing a journal article, it’s demanding in different ways, and it fits into different parts of my workflow:
    1. Translation is linear. Translate this sentence, then the next one, then the next one. Of course there are also global issues, issues around terminological consistency, etc. But when I’m translating, there’s less to hold in my head at once than there is when I’m writing an article. It’s perfect for when I’m mentally alert and active, but in a puzzle-solving way rather than a “solve the mysteries of the universe” kind of way.
    2. Translation is concrete. You can actually track your progress by words written, knowing that you aren’t going to suddenly decide that that 1,000 word section you just wrote doesn’t really belong in that article after all. I can get to the end of a work session, look at how much I’ve written, and feel proud of the concrete thing I produced, even if it needs some polishing. It’s fulfilling the way carpentry or baking is fulfilling. You don’t get a lot of that as a philosopher.
    3. It’s easier to fit into a busy life than traditional philosophical writing. You can translate in short spurts without a sacrifice of quality—and, if you’re really good at the language, you can produce a rough draft totally off-screen. I teach at a K-12 school and have young kids myself, and my translation notebook is my go-to when I’m in a philosophical frame of mind but am monitoring children (at recess or lunch e.g.) and can’t pull out my laptop, or when I am outside in nature and really don’t want to be working with a screen, or at the end of the day when I’m just sick of staring at my computer all day.

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