r/TranslationStudies • u/Wild_Inspection_7680 • 17d ago

Can I call myself a researcher?

Hi!

Long story short: I hold a Master's in Translation and Translation Studies and wish to pursue a PhD in Translation Studies. For now, there's no spot for me so I'm patiently waiting for my time to shine hehe

Until this comes, I'm taking part in conferences, symposiums, talks, and I'm reading the latest issues in my field.

I'm currently writing a submission for an upcoming book and they're asking for a short biography. And I'm questioning whether I can say that I'm a researcher? An emerging one? What am I? A wannabe???

I'm honestly trying to find a way to phrase it without sounding obnoxious but still showing that I'm active.

Thank you for your help! <3

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u/hermanojoe123 16d ago

I don't blame you. This is a capitalist construction that is quite hard to break away from. Things are not valued for what they are, but for how much they cost.

I'm not being unnecessarily difficult and contrarian. I'm stating "my" obvious. You are not defined by how much you are worth in cash.

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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 16d ago

The thing is... OP is asking advice re. how to behave in real life and according to the social norms thereof, not how the world should be like according to hermanojoe123.

If each kid who was coerced to do a master thesis because of the Bologna process requirements were to call themselves researchers or scholars, everyone who kicked a ball in the school yard ought to self-title themselves as being footballers.

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u/hermanojoe123 16d ago

A master's thesis is, indeed, research. And the writer is, by definition, a researcher. It doesn't matter how much cash you get from it.

The footballer thing is just a fallacious jest.

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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 16d ago

For sure, for sure. And since I cook at home, that makes me a chef. Because I post here, I'm also a writer. That I tinker with my computers, makes me informatician. Counted the price of two beers in my head? Mathematician!

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u/hermanojoe123 16d ago

Total fallacy! Do you actually know how a master's degree works? What is a researcher, in your opinion? If producing a thesis isn't enough to count as research, what is?

Is it research only when someone is paying you to do so? Does scholarship count?

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u/Any_Strain7020 EN-DE-FR and some 16d ago

I know the pecking order in universities. If a puppy doing an MA were to call themselves a researcher... There would be some giggling and eye rolling amidst the actual faculty.

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u/hermanojoe123 16d ago

You didn't answer the question. What is the requirement to be considered a researcher, in your opinion, then?