The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198183593 ISBN 13: 9780198183594

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2000

Synopsis

Translation has been a crucial process in world culture over the past two millennia and more. In the English-speaking cultures many of the most important texts are translations, from Homer to Beckett, the Bible to Freud. Although recent years have seen a boom in translation studies, there has been no comprehensive yet convenient guide to this essential element of literature in English.

Written by eminent scholars from many countries, the Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation meets this need and will be essential reading for all students of English and comparative literature. It highlights the place of translation in our culture, encouraging awareness of the issues raised, making the translator more visible. Concentrating on major writers and works, it covers translations out of many languages, from Greek to Korean, from Swahili to Russian. For some works (e.g. Virgil's Aeneid) which have been much translated, the discussion is historical and critical, showing how translation has evolved over the centuries and bringing out the differences between versions. Elsewhere, with less familiar literatures, the Guide examines the extent to which translation has done justice to the range of work available.

The Guide is divided into two parts. Part I contains substantial essays on theoretical questions, a pioneering outline of the history of translation into English, and discussions of the problems raised by specific types of text (e.g. poetry, oral literature). The second, much longer, part consists of entries grouped by language of origin; some are devoted to individual texts (e.g. the Thousand and One Nights) or writers (e.g. Ibsen, Proust), but the majority offer a critical overview of a genre (e.g. Chinese poetry, Spanish Golden Age drama) or of a national literature (e.g. Hungarian, Scottish Gaelic). There is a selective bibliography for each entry and an index of authors and translators.

About this title

Review:

This book is a must for people interested in the internationalisation of literature and religious texts, in Translation Studies, as well as for translators with an interest in their field and literary critics concerned with comparative literature. It will bring something new to them all. (Perspectives: Studies in Translatology)

The "Guide" not only informs and enlights. It also delights those with an open mind. It calls for discussion. And it will inspire others to cover the same or adjacent ground, finding additional material, agreeing, or objecting. (Perspectives: Studies in Translatology)

... this is a fine and impressive achievement which deserves the highest praise and will be the primary reference point for everybody who wants to get an authoritative overview of elitist, notably literary translation internationally. (Perspectives: Studies in Translatology)

This is an impressive volume which is an indispensable reference work for anybody who takes an interest in literary translation. (Perspectives: Studies in Translatology)

Excellent Guide ... The essays are generally readable, concisely written and informative; the one on the Thousand and One Nights is a fine example of these features. (Forum for Modern Language Studies)

For Classicists, whose undergraduate teaching brief consists largely in teaching tyros how to translate from Latin before they can begin to explore the joys of literary appreciation, this book elicits a feeling of surprised delight 'How could I have got on so long without it?' At the same time it offers the traditional 'desert-island' compendious fare that will lure even the most dedicated Classicist into surreptitious dipping ... it is an extremely useful vademecum to a particular aspect of English literature. (Scholia)

A remarkable amount of close comparison of competing versions is packed into the entries. (English Studies)

The Guide should become an invaluable resource for scholars ... It is a treasure house for anyone interested in foreign literature in English garb and its impact on Anglophone culture. There is simply no alternative resource of this kind, and a hitherto largely uncharted territory now has its first extensive map. (Notes and Queries)

Peter France's impressive editorial enterprise should be heartily welcomed as an important remedy for a long-established blind-spot of literary historians. In the richness of its diverse material The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation manages to convey a new picture of how culturally significant the work of translators and translations into English have been. (Notes and Queries)

Read thoroughly, the introductory essays and the essays on particular literatures illuminate and extend one another. There is a continual raising of vital issues in the best possible way, by concrete examples ... Peter France, whose own contributions are first-rate, is to be congratulated for gathering information, discussion and concrete instances of great interactive and generative power. (David Constantine, Times Literary Supplement)

From the Publisher:

Reviews include: Choice & European Journal English Studies.
`valuable as a desktop reference.' R. Stuhr, CHOICE Dec. 2000. Vol. 38, No.4.

`a fascinating and very comprehensive, panoramic view of its subject as well as being very readable.' European Journal of English Studies

`The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation is an excellent book, being the result of the collaborative efforts of 113 experts, mostly from British universities, under the editorial guidance of Peter France.' European Journal of English Studies

`provides translation histories and very helpful judgments about which translations are best and most reliable ... Highly recommended for libraries serving scholarly literary programs.' Peter Dollard, Library Journal, June 15th 2000.

`Part One would appear to be as good an introduction to the major issues of current interest in Translation Studies as is currently available, being written by many authors who are at the forefront of their particular fields.' John Style, European Jnl of English Studies, Issue 4:3, Dec. 2000.

`Here, the book's function as a practical guide comes into its own, as by the end of each section, the reader has a clear idea of which translations are available, and, through comparative illustration and/or informed critical commentary, a fair notion of the strengths and weaknesses of each version.' John Style, European Jnl of English Studies, Issue 4:3, Dec. 2000.

`As the editor states in his introductions, his writers have been allowed to express their divergent opinions without constraint. Part Two of the Guide is a veritable treasure-trove of information, and it is hard not to read any entry without being moved to investigate further some of the recommended translations.' John Style, European Jnl of English Studies, Issue 4:3, Dec. 2000.

`What is most impressive about Part One is the way the various writers refer to each other's articles in the Guide and other writings to build up a multifacetted view of what Translation Studies is about.' John Style, European Jnl of English Studies, Issue 4:3, Dec. 2000.

`a textual concision and choice of apposite quotations which are exemplary.' John Style, European Jnl of English Studies, Issue 4:3, Dec. 2000.

`an excellent book ... it gives a fascinating and very comprehensive, panoramic view of its subject as well as being very readable - to open it at virtually any page is to become immediately engaged in a lively discussion of the theory and practice of translation into English.' John Style, European Jnl of English Studies, Issue 4:3, Dec. 2000.

`A horizon-expanding book whose editor has made a remarkable contribution to cultural life in Scotland and far beyond.' Robert Crawford, The Scotsman

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0198183593
• ISBN 13: 9780198183594
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 680
• Editor: France Peter