Patrick Zabalbeascoa, “From Techniques of Translation to Types of Solutions” Beeby, A. Et al. (eds) Investigating Translation, John Benjamins, 2000, ISBN: 902721637 117 CHAPTER 12 From Techniques to Types of Solutions * 1 Patrick Zabalbeascoa Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona Introduction The aim of this paper is to present a brief review of translation techniques and study the development of Vinay and Darbelnet’s initial proposal (henceforth ‘the initial proposal’). For some people, the study of translation techniques is the cornerstone of translation methodology and translator training; for others it is a theoretical anacronysm. Does this mean that some teachers and textbook writers are not keeping up to date with the latest developments in theoretical studies, or does it mean that the theorists have chosen to ‘sweep the issue under the carpet’ and direct their interests elsewhere? We must be very careful not to oversimplify the answer to this, although the real question is, put bluntly, in what way is technique a useful concept? Possible answers might include (i) to better understand or explain certain phenomena (from the theoretical domain); (ii) as categories and tools for description (within descriptive studies); (iii) to make the learning process of trainees more efficient, or to fill in important terminological gaps for reviewers and critics (within the applied extensions). The problems posed by the proposal have been pointed out and discussed by numerous scholars, but that does not seem to have been enough, in many cases, to break the deadlock. The present situation offers us a host of names such as procedures, strategies, shifts, methods, replacements and operations that are synonymous to a greater or lesser degree with techniques, while polysemy is also a fact of many of these terms due to conceptual distinctions that are drawn * This study was carried out as a part of Research Project Num PB 95-0985-C031-01 “Análisis contrastivo de los elementos conectores de la argumentación y de los elementos temporales en textos de especialidad (francés/castellano, inglés/castellano)” financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture.