Rethinking Translation: Discourse, Subjectivity, Ideology

"Rethinking Translation" aims to make the translator's activity more visible by engaging with recent developments in critical theory to study the discourses and institutions which determine the production, circulation and reception of translated texts. Animated by different varieties of Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism and poststructuralism and written in some cases by practising translators, this book constitutes a rethinking of translation that is both philosophical and political. Translations in a number of genres are examined, including Gothic tales, modern poetry, scientific treatises and postmodern narratives, and various national literatures are addressed - French, German, Italian, Latin, American, Quebecois and Arabic. "Rethinking Translation" challenges the marginality of translators by demonstrating the power they wield in the formation of literary canons, the functioning of cultural institutions and the construction of national identities.