Explicitation in Translation Studies: The journey of an elusive concept

Abstract

Due to its pervasiveness, explicitation has received much attention in translation research. However, studies seem to have overlooked the basic underlying concepts of ‘explicit’ and ‘implicit’. Moreover, these notions have been understood in various ways, making it difficult, for example, to compare research results on explicitation and describe the phenomenon. To better clarify the issue, this paper examines the commonly used concepts of ‘explicit’ and ‘implicit’ and how they have been applied in explicitation studies, beginning with the classic work of Vinay and Darbelnet. While the concept of explicitation is far from simple, few studies have devoted enough room to examine it.