Limits of freedom: Agency, choice and constraints in the work of the translator
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Outi Paloposki
Abstract
Translators’ agency has been under increasing attention lately, from several different viewpoints and using different kinds of data. The present paper is an attempt at outlining concrete day-to-day routines and decision-making of two translators in Finland, one in the late 19th century and the other in the mid-20th century, on the basis of their correspondence and other documents. The study of their lives can shed light on issues such as the selection (or rejection) of books to be translated, translation strategies, the use of source texts and versions, typographical and layout design, and fees. I will outline the interaction between the translators and their publishers and readers and explore the issues which determine the balance between individual agency and collective norms.
Abstract
Translators’ agency has been under increasing attention lately, from several different viewpoints and using different kinds of data. The present paper is an attempt at outlining concrete day-to-day routines and decision-making of two translators in Finland, one in the late 19th century and the other in the mid-20th century, on the basis of their correspondence and other documents. The study of their lives can shed light on issues such as the selection (or rejection) of books to be translated, translation strategies, the use of source texts and versions, typographical and layout design, and fees. I will outline the interaction between the translators and their publishers and readers and explore the issues which determine the balance between individual agency and collective norms.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction: Agents of translation and Translation Studies 1
- Francisco de Miranda, intercultural forerunner 19
- Translating cultural paradigms: The role of the Revue Britannique for the first Brazilian fiction writers 43
- Translation as representation: Fukuzawa Yukichi's representation of the "Others" 63
- Vizetelly & Company as (ex)change agent: Towards the modernization of the British publishing industry 85
- Translation within the margin: The "Libraries" of Henry Bohn 107
- Translating Europe: The case of Ahmed Midhat as an Ottoman agent of translation 131
- A cultural agent against the forces of culture: Hasan-Âli Yücel 161
- Limits of freedom: Agency, choice and constraints in the work of the translator 189
- Cheikh Anta Diop: Translation at the service of history 209
- The agency of the poets and the impact of their translations: Sur, Poesía Buenos Aires , and Diario de Poesía as aesthetic arenas for twentieth-century Argentine letters 229
- The role of Haroldo and Augusto de Campos in bringing translation to the fore of literary activity in Brazil 257
- The theatre translator as a cultural agent: A case study 279
- Embassy networks: Translating post-war Bosnian poetry into English 301
- Notes on contributors 327
- Index 331
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction: Agents of translation and Translation Studies 1
- Francisco de Miranda, intercultural forerunner 19
- Translating cultural paradigms: The role of the Revue Britannique for the first Brazilian fiction writers 43
- Translation as representation: Fukuzawa Yukichi's representation of the "Others" 63
- Vizetelly & Company as (ex)change agent: Towards the modernization of the British publishing industry 85
- Translation within the margin: The "Libraries" of Henry Bohn 107
- Translating Europe: The case of Ahmed Midhat as an Ottoman agent of translation 131
- A cultural agent against the forces of culture: Hasan-Âli Yücel 161
- Limits of freedom: Agency, choice and constraints in the work of the translator 189
- Cheikh Anta Diop: Translation at the service of history 209
- The agency of the poets and the impact of their translations: Sur, Poesía Buenos Aires , and Diario de Poesía as aesthetic arenas for twentieth-century Argentine letters 229
- The role of Haroldo and Augusto de Campos in bringing translation to the fore of literary activity in Brazil 257
- The theatre translator as a cultural agent: A case study 279
- Embassy networks: Translating post-war Bosnian poetry into English 301
- Notes on contributors 327
- Index 331
