Description
Book SynopsisJudith Woodsworth is Professor of Translation Studies in the Department of French Studies at Concordia University, Canada.
Trade Review[The book] sheds new light onto a less-researched part of the literary career of three “literary decathletes” as she [Woodsworth] calls Shaw, Stein and Auster … Therefore, it is useful not only to students and researchers in the field of Translation Studies, but also to those interested in literary and cultural studies. * LINGUIST List *
Something of a prophet in Canada, Woodsworth (French studies, Concordia Univ., Montreal) offers here a tripartite explication of translation strategies principally by three prominent authors: George Bernard Shaw, Gertrude Stein, and Paul Auster. En passant, Woodsworth exposes the complex lives and extensive bibliographies of the three writers to yield insights into their acts of translation and interpretation. Explored are links between translating and (re)writing by these eminent authors who translate and how they conceptualized or even fictionalized the task of translation. The evolution of the translator’s voice and visibility is also scrutinized. Woodsworth's case studies illuminate a teleology of translation, insofar as the process may pay tribute, repay a debt, or cement a friendship. Bleak tales of loss, counterfeit, or hard labor may yet also complement with fresh perceptions, allowing translation, finally, to be taken not as a subservient art but as a literary act in its own right. Woodsworth's epilogue steps along further with discussion of three genre-bending and multidimensional storytellers: Jonathan Safran Foer, Rachel Cantor, and Idra Novey. Including extensive notes, this volume will be extremely useful for scholars in linguistics and translation studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE *
Table of Contents1. Introduction: ‘One More Possession of Beauty’ 2. Lost Masterpieces: Bernard Shaw and Translation 3. Gertrude Stein and the Making of Translations 4. Paul Auster: the Writer and his Double 5. Epilogue: What is Translation For?
References Index
