Communities or Social Networks? Theorizing Translators’ Congregations on the Internet

Despite the fact that the number of online translation communities in the digital age has been growing, the question as to how numerous individual translators coalesce into a sustainable whole arises. In this study, I explore how translators’ congregations on the internet can be theorized, focusing on two frequently applied concepts, i.e. ‘community’ and ‘network’. Situated in Yeeyan, a large scale online translation community that incorporates for-profit and not-for- profit business models, my analysis showcases how the concepts of ‘community’ and ‘network’ are not mutually exclusive; instead, both can be applied to our theorization and understanding of translators’ congregations on the internet.

Before introducing Yeeyan, I provide an overview of the theoretical possibilities of translation communities. Next, Wenger’s social theory of ‘communities of practice’ (1998) and Wellman’s theorization of ‘computer networks as social networks’ (2001) will be applied to analyse Yeeyan’s participatory mechanisms, primarily drawing on archival data. The analysis demonstrates the existence of a hierarchy within Yeeyan, which is consequently regarded as a large scale social network constituted of multiple sub-communities of practice. Additionally, the analysis of interview data reveals that participants’ motivations are crucial to the formation of the aforementioned hierarchy. Hence, I argue that a translators’ congregation like Yeeyan is a complex social entity. Whether we call it a community or a network depends on its scale, the nature of the translation projects and participants’ motivations.