自由譯者與時間概念：中英譯者個案研究

Abstract

目前的產業研究中，自由譯者相關的研究相當少。本研究欲探討自由譯者工作時利用時間的習慣，並研究自由譯者的時間概念如何形成。時間概念分別為工時、時間分配、以及緊湊性三個部分。首先，研究者將釐清自由譯者在產業裡的定位，並討論各種身份對時間概念的影響。自由譯者工作來源並非來自於公司的分配，必須自己找客戶及來源、自己建立作品集（學界稱之為portfolio worker）。另外，因現今的自由譯者主要以通訊網路遠端進行工作，所以不受時空限制（學界稱之為teleworker）。為更加瞭解自由譯者的工作時間管理策略，研究者採訪了13位現任自由譯者，並歸納出兩項主要結果：一，書籍譯者與文件譯者對於時間的概念相差甚大；二，時間概念取決於截止日期、毅力、進度與心情波動等四大因素。Freelance translators compose a pocket of the professional worker industry on which little research has been conducted. This thesis attempts to answer the previously untouched question of how freelance translators establish a work-based temporal structure, as defined by the time, timing, and tempo of work. In this thesis freelance translators are first framed in the industry as being part portfolio worker and part teleworker, with the characteristics of each respective role analyzed as to their effect on temporal structure. To better understand their working lives and how they organize time, interviews were conducted with 13 active freelance translators. The major findings of this study are that temporal structure differs between book and document translators; that temporal structure is dictated in part by deadlines, fatigue, quota fulfillment, and volition.