Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hanna Risku
Hanna Risku

Sprechstunde: Sprechstunde dienstags um 9:30-10:30 Uhr; Anmeldung per E-Mail

Current FWF research project: Rethinking translation expertise: a workplace study (Retrex, P33132)

The objective of this research project is to contribute to an understanding of how translation expertise is understood and constructed by working professionals. The project explores the lived translation expertise of working professionals, which is assumed to differ from the established perspectives of translation process research. To do so, the project views experts as social actors who
construct expertise in interaction with other social actors and tools. Accordingly, the social, performative and situative aspects of expertise are placed in the foreground. The project investigates how translation expertise is socially constructed and rationalized in the workplace, which notions of expertise emerge and how these manifest themselves in day-to-day working life. This includes questions of possible contradictions between what people say they do and what they actually do, the strategic interests that underlie the expertise discourse and potential conflicts between different constructions of expertise. The empirical insights into the lived expertise of working professionals will offer new perspectives for translation studies and prove fruitful for theoretical reconceptualizations.

This research project takes the form of a translation workplace study and approaches the topic froma qualitative, ethnographic perspective. To capture the emic, insider perspective of the participants as closely as possible, the project uses an ethnographically oriented multi-case research design with a deep, multi-faceted analysis of a number of selected translation agencies. To grasp the different dimensions of lived expertise (actual workplace praxis, rationalizations of the social actors involved, normative descriptions), a combination of participant observations, interviews, focus groups and document analysis will be used to collect the data.

Smuc M, Mayr E, Risku H, Windhager F. Finding your way in chronoland: Visual metaphors for orientation of temporal data explorers. in Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.. Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. 2009. S. 467-472



Risku H, Wimmer P. Translation und Kognition: Der Mensch im Mittelpunkt. in Zybatow LN, Hrsg., Proceedings der International Translation Summerschool Summertrans, Innsbruck 2004. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 2009. S. 111-138,


Risku H, Dickinson AM. Translators as Networkers: The Role of Virtual Communities. Hermes. 2009;(42):49-70. doi: 10.7146/hjlcb.v22i42.96846

Gärtner J, Aigner W, Bertone A, Klausner R, Lammarsch T, Mayr E et al. Visual Analytics for Workforce Requirements. IEEE Computer Graphics & Application . 2009;29(3):29-38,.

Risku H. Was bedeutet es, ein Translationsprofi zu sein? Drei Antworten aus dem Bereich der Kognitionswissenschaft. in Ahrens B, Černý L, Krein-Kühle M, Schreiber M, Hrsg., Translationswissenschaftliches Kolloquium I - Beiträge zur Übersetzungs- und Dolmetschwissenschaft (Köln/Germersheim): [Publikationen des Fachbereichs Angewandte Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz in Germersheim 50]. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 2009. S. 331-347

Zenk L, Pircher R, Mayr E, Risku H. Management of Situated Learning in Organizations. in Tochtermann K, Maurer H, Kappe F, Haas W, Hrsg., Proceedings of I-KNOW´08 and I-MEDIA´08: International Conferences on Knowledge Management and New Media Technology. Graz: J.UCS. 2008. S. 280-287,

Mayr E, Smuc M, Risku H. Organisational Analysis as Important Factor for Optimization of Workplace Learning. in Hambach S, Martens A, Urban B, Hrsg., eLearning Baltics 2008: Proceedings of the 1st International eLBa Science Conference, Rostock, Germany, June 18-19, 2008. Stuttgart: Fraunhofer IRB. 2008. S. 1-10,

Windhager F, Zenk L, Risku H. Situated Organisational Mapping. in Stegbauer C, Hrsg., Netzwerkanalyse und Netzwerktheorie. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. 2008. S. 239-249 doi: DOI: 10.1007/978-3-531-91107-6_18

Pircher R, Mayr E, Zenk L, Risku H. Strategic E-Learning in the Workplace. in Guralnick D, Hrsg., Proceedings of ICELW – The International Conference on E-Learning in the Workplace 2008. New York, NY. 2008

Pircher R, Zenk L, Risku H. Strategic learning design in organisations. in Proceedings of IADIS. International conference e-Society 2008, Algarve, Portugal. 2008


Smuc M, Mayr E, Lammarsch T, Bertone A, Aigner W, Risku H et al. Visualizations at first sight: Do insights require training? . in Holzinger A, Hrsg., HCI and Usability for Education and Work. Heidelberg: Springer. 2008. S. 261-280,

Pircher R, Zenk L, Risku H. Context assessment as a basis for appropriate support of individual and organizational learning. in Memmel M, Ras E, Wolpers M, Van Assche F, Hrsg., 3rd Workshop on Learner-Oriented Knowledge Management & KM-Oriented E-Learning (LOKMOL´07, Kreta): CEUR Workshop Proceedings. 2007

Siebenhandl K, Risku H, Brugger C, Simlinger P. Evaluating the Comprehensibility of Visualized Information for the Trans-European Road Network (TERN). in Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, June 18-21, 2007, Lyon, France. Lyon. 2007

Siebenhandl K, Risku H, Brugger C, Simlinger P. Evaluating the comprehensibility of visualized information for the Trans-European Road Network (TERN) as part of the EU Project IN-SAFETY: INfrastructure and SAFETY. in Proceedings of the International Conference Road Safety and Simulation 2007 (RSS 2007), November 7–9, 2007, Rome, Italy. Rom. 2007


Pircher R, Zenk L, Risku H. The impact of organizational characteristics on learning and knowledge transfer: Assessment structure for individual and organisational learning management in the ongoing project PROLIX. in Gronau N, Hrsg., 4th conference on professional knowledge management experiences and visions. Band 2. Berlin: Gito. 2007. S. 201-208,

Institut für Translationswissenschaft

Gymnasiumstraße 50
1190 Wien
Zimmer: N2.18

T: +43-1-4277-58017

hanna.risku@univie.ac.at