The concept of quality is mature and widespread. However, its associated
attributes can only be measured against a set of specifications since quality
itself is a relative concept. Today, the concept of quality broadly corresponds to
product suitability – meaning that the product meets the user’s requirements.
But then, how does one know when a translation is good? No answer can be
given to this very simple question without recall to translation criticism and the
theory of translation. However, the relationship between a source text and the
translated text is unfit to solve the problem, as readers often perceive the endproduct
of translation as the only material available for scrutiny; they have no
interest in the translator’s decision-making process (the hermeneutic process).
Therefore, translation adequacy should be taken into account in assessment
especially when customers impose their own subjective preferences
(requirements).
