Definition/explanation
Translation from a translated version of the ultimate source text.
Related terms
synonyms: double, intermediate, mediated, mixed, pivot, relay(ed), second (third, etc.)-hand translation
antonyms: direct translation
Use in context
"It's safe to say that certain classic works of world literature would not have found their way into languages of limited diffusion had it not been for indirect translation." (Landers 2001: 130-131)
Example
Until the 1990s Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment had been translated into European Portuguese via French rather than directly from Russian; the result is what we call an indirect translation.
Corresponding terms in other languages
DE: indirekte Übersetzung
ES: traducción indirecta
FA:ترجمه غیر مستقیم
FR: traduction indirecte
FI: epsuora knns, vlillinen knns
IT:
PL: przekład pośredni
PT: tradução indirecta, em segunda (terceira, n-ésima) mão, intermédia, intermediada, mediada
Notes
1. There are fundamental discrepancies between some of the most frequently used definitions. For example, while some authors (e.g., Landers 2001: 130, St. André 2009: 230) consider that indirect translation should involve (at least) three different languages, others do not mention this requirement (e.g., Gambier 1994, Toury 1995: 58), thus making it possible to consider intralingual translations as indirect translation.
2. Indirect translations are sometimes called "retranslations" (e.g. Bauer 1999, Gambier 1994), but this term is more frequently used to describe multiple translations of the same source text into one target language.
References
Assis Rosa, Alexandra, Hanna Pieta, Rita Bueno Maia. 2017. Special Issue of Translation Studies 10:2 Indirect Translation: Theoretical, Methodological and Terminological Issues. London: Routledge. https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rtrs20/10/2.
Bauer, Wolfgang. 1999. "The Role of Intermediate Languages in Translations from Chinese into German". Viviane Alleton & Michael Lackner, eds. De l’un au multiple: Traductions du chinois vers les langues européennes = Translations from Chinese to European Languages. Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme. 19-32.
Gambier, Yves. 1994. "La retraduction, retour et detour", Meta 39 (3): 413–417.
Landers, Clifford E. 2001. Literary Translation: A Practical Guide. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
St. André, James. 2009. "Relay". Mona Baker & Gabriela Saldanha, eds. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. 2nd ed. London/New York: Routledge. 230-232.
Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.