The Metalanguage of Translation Studies in Brazil Based on Theses and Dissertations (2005–2020): A Proposal for a Controlled Vocabulary

Abstract

The epistemic and communicational consolidation of Translation Studies in some ways depends on the systematisation of its metalanguage, which remains marked by theoretical, methodological, and terminological dispersion. This fragmentation appears in the keywords of theses and dissertations, where the lack of a unified disciplinary lexicon limits dialogue among researchers and hinders the organisation and retrieval of scientific information. To address this issue, the thesis aims to propose a controlled vocabulary that represents the emerging metalinguistic configuration of Translation Studies research in Brazil, based on theses and dissertations defended between 2005 and 2020 in the graduate programmes in Translation Studies at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (PGET-UFSC), the University of Brasília (POSTRAD-UnB), the University of São Paulo (TRADUSP-USP), and the Federal University of Ceará (POET-UFC). To guide this research and achieve its goal, the study asks how to present the emerging metalanguage of Translation Studies in the Brazilian academic context while respecting the diversity of discourses on translation theories and practices. It adopts an interdisciplinary framework that connects Translation Studies and Information Science, focusing on knowledge organisation and the construction of specialised systems for metadata representation and indexing. This interface integrates the technical rigour of Information Science standards with the epistemological diversity of Translation Studies. The study employs a multimethod approach that combines bibliographic and documentary research, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and the application of normative principles of syntactic and semantic standardisation for processing keywords. It begins with a review of existing maps and mappings of the disciplinary field to identify its boundaries and advances. The corpus comprises 3,340 keywords collected from 774 theses and dissertations, which were processed and converted into terms according to normative guidelines for syntactic and semantic standardisation specific to the construction of controlled vocabularies. These terms were then compared with the main theoretical mappings in the field. From this cross-analysis, the study identifies conceptual convergences, divergences, and terminological gaps that guide the construction of a controlled vocabulary designed to reflect the field’s conceptual complexity. Developed in Brazilian Portuguese using the TemaTres platform, the controlled vocabulary includes preferred and non-preferred terms, hierarchical, associative, and equivalence relations, as well as scope, bibliographic, and cataloguing notes. Its structure comprises a macrostructure with 22 thematic branches and a relational microstructure that organises the terms subordinated to each branch. The results reveal the metalinguistic configuration of research in Translation Studies, showing the coexistence of consolidated branches—such as literary translation, audiovisual translation, and sign language interpreting—with emerging critical, feminist, and postcolonial approaches. These findings support the creation of a controlled vocabulary that integrates conceptual representativeness, methodological rigour, and practical applicability. The proposed vocabulary serves as a tool for terminological standardisation and scientific communication in the field, assisting in the selection of precise keywords and contributing to the strengthening of the metalanguage of Translation Studies.