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.

Risku H. The Role of Technology in Translation Management. in Gambier Y, Shlesinger M, Stolze R, Hrsg., Doubts and Directions in Translation Studies: Selected contributions from the EST Congress, Lisbon 2004. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 2007. S. 85-98,


Pircher R, Zenk L, Risku H. Das Management von Kompetenzen – Wissen – Prozessen: Getrennte Welten ohne Verbindungen? in Gronau N, Pawlowsky P, Schütt P, Weber M, Hrsg., Mit Wissensmanagement besser im Wettbewerb! : Tagungsband zur KnowTech 2006. 8. Konferenz zum Einsatz von Wissensmanagement in Wirtschaft und Verwaltung, Oktober 2006, München. CMP-WEKA-Verlag. 2006. S. 191-199,

Risku H, Pircher R. Facilitating knowledge construction through Information Technology: Beyond the things that make us dumb. in Proceedings of the 20th International Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunication, Sophia Antipolis, France. Sophia Antipolis. 2006


Risku H. "Mach Platz für dein Leben": Wissen, Können und Verstehen und die Aufgabe von Bildungseinrichtungen. in GLOBA, Hrsg., GLOBArt Academy 2006: Bildung - ein Menschenrecht. Wien [u.a.]: Springer. 2006. S. 144-150,

Pircher R, Berchtold S, Stadler C, Risku H. Organizational Learning in the CEE Region – An Empirical Study on Expanding Companies. in Proceedings of the International Conference on Organizational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities - OLKC 2006. 2006


Pircher R, Risku H. The impact of the organizational environment on process-oriented workplace learning. in Szűcs A, Bo I, Hrsg., E-competences for Life, Employment and Innovation. "E" is more! — E-learning Enabling Education in Evolving Europe. Budapest: EDEN. 2006. S. 750-755,

Risku H, Pircher R. Translatory Cooperation: Roles, Skills and Coordination in Intercultural Text Design. in Wolf M, Hrsg., Übersetzen –Translating – Traduire: Towards a "Social Turn"? . Münster: LIT Verlag. 2006. S. 253-264,

Risku H, Hable F. Usability von Online-Geoinformationssystemen. in Gold W, Hrsg., Tagungsband des 9. Österreichischen Geodätentags, 3.-5.5.2006, Krems. Wien: ÖGV. 2006. S. 120-128,


Pircher R, Berchtold S, Stadler C, Risku H. Culture, People, Codification – an Empirical Study on Knowledge Transfer in Internationally Expanding Companies. in Hawamdeh S, Hrsg., Knowledge Management: Nurturing Culture, Innovation and Technology: proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Knowledge Management: 27-28 October 2005, North Carolina, USA. New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing. 2005. S. 93-100,

Risku H. Die Rolle von Kooperation und Artefakten im Wissensmanagement: Kognitive Grundlagen und Erfahrungen aus der Praxis. in Neumaier O, Sedmak C, Zichy M, Hrsg., Philosophische Perspektiven: Beiträge zum VII. Internationalen Kongress der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Philosophie. Frankfurt [u.a.]: Ontos Verlag. 2005. S. 345-350


Pircher R, Risku H. Intellectual Capital Reports in Higher Education and Research. in Hawamdeh S, Hrsg., Knowledge Management: Nurturing Culture, Innovation and Technology: proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Knowledge Management: 27-28 October 2005, North Carolina, USA. New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing. 2005. S. 705-706,

Pircher R, Berchtold S, Risku H, Stadler C. Organizational Learning and Knowledge Transfer in Expanding Companies – Findings from an Empirical Study on Austrian Companies Entering Eastern European Markets. in Gherardi S, Nicolini D, Hrsg., The Passion for Learning and Knowing: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Organizational Learning and Knowledge (2 vols.) . Trento: University of Trento e-books. 2005


Pircher R, Risku H. Steuerung von Wissensarbeit durch Wissenscontrolling - Wissensbilanzierung im öffentlichen Bereich. in Schweighofer E, Liebwald D, Augeneder S, Menzel T, Hrsg., IRIS 2005 – Effizienz von e-Lösungen in Staat und Gesellschaft. Stuttgart: Richard Boorberg Verlag. 2005. S. 203-210,

Risku H. Translations- und kognitionswissenschaftliche Paradigmen: Der Mensch im Mittelpunkt. in Zybatow LN, Hrsg., Translationswissenschaft im interdisziplinären Dialog: Innsbrucker Ringvorlesungen zur Translationswissenschaft III . Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang. 2005. S. 55-70,

Institut für Translationswissenschaft

Gymnasiumstraße 50
1190 Wien
Zimmer: N2.18

T: +43-1-4277-58017

hanna.risku@univie.ac.at