Translators through History

Editor and directors

Jean Delisle | University of Ottawa

Judith Woodsworth | Concordia University, Montreal

Hardbound – Replaced by new edition

ISBN 9789027216137 (Eur)

ISBN 9781556196942 (USA)

Paperback – Replaced by new edition

ISBN 9789027216168 (Eur)

ISBN 9781556196973 (USA)

e-Book – Replaced by new edition

ISBN 9789027284938

In AD 629, a Chinese monk named Xuan Zang set out for India on a quest for sacred texts. He returned with a caravan of twenty-two horses bearing Buddhist treasures and spent the last twenty years of his life in the “Great Wild Goose Pagoda”, in present-day Xi’an, translating the Sanskrit manuscripts into Chinese with a team of collaborators.

In the twelfth century, scholars came to Spain from all over Europe seeking knowledge that had been transmitted from the Arab world. Their names tell the story: Adelard of Bath, Hermann of Dalmatia, Plato of Tivoli. Among them was Robert of Chester (or Robert of Kent), who was part of an elaborate team that translated documents on Islam and the Koran itself.

Doña Marina, also called la Malinche, was a crucial link between Cortés and native peoples he set out to convert and conquer in sixteenth-century Mexico. One of the conquistador’s “tongues” or interpreters, she was also the mother of his son. She has been an ambivalent figure in the history of the new world, her own history having been rewritten in different ways over the centuries.

James Evans, an Englishman sent to evangelize and educate the natives of western Canada during the nineteenth century, invented a writing system in order to translate and transcribe religious texts. Known as “the man who made birchbark talk”, he even succeeded in printing a number of pamphlets, using crude type fashioned out of lead from the lining of tea chests and ink made from a mixture of soot and sturgeon oil. A jackpress used by traders to pack furs served as a press.

These are just some of the stories told in Translators through History, published under the auspices of the International Federation of Translators (FIT). Over seventy people have been involved in this project — as principal authors, contributors or translators and proofreaders. The participants come from some twenty countries, reflecting the make-up and interests of FIT.

[Benjamins Translation Library, 13] 1995. xvi, 345 pp.

Publishing status: Obsolete

https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.13

Table of Contents

Table of illustrations | p. xi

Preface | p. xiii

Introduction

Jean Delisle and Judith Woodsworth | p. 1

1. Translators and the invention of alphabets

Jean Delisle and Pierre Cloutier | p. 7

2. Translators and the development of national languages

Charles Atangana Nama, Anneliese Abramowski, Paul A. Horguelin, Moses Nunyi Nintai, Rachel Weissbrod, Lars Wollin and Judith Woodsworth | p. 25

3. Translators and the emergence of national literatures

Judith Woodsworth, Michael Cronin, Lieven D’hulst, Bill Findlay, Ana Gargatagli, Theo Hermans and Charles Atangana Nama | p. 67

4. Translators and the dissemination of knowledge

Myriam Salama-Carr, Ronald H. Bathgate, Jean Delisle, Clara Foz, Li Nanqiu, Shantha Ramakrishna and Lars Wollin | p. 101

5. Translators and the reins of power

André Lefevere, Lourdes Arencibia Rodriguez, Michel Ballard, Anthony Pym, Clara Foz, Sherry Simon, D.J.M. Soulas de Russel, George Talbot and Colette Touitou-Benitah | p. 131

6. Translators and the spread of religions

Sherry Simon, Robert Bratcher, Amila Butorovic, Francine Kaufmann, Achmed Khammas, Domenico Pezzini and Arvind Sharma | p. 159

7. Translators and the transmission of cultural values

Yves Gambier, Michel Bastiaensen, John Denton, Lieven D’hulst, Jean-Marc Gouanvic, Alexis Nouss, Joëlle Prungnaud, Anthony Pym, Margaret E. Rumbold and Xu Shi Gu | p. 191

8. Translators and the writing of dictionaries

Henri Van Hoof | p. 229

9. Interpreters and the making of history

Margareta Bowen, David Bowen, Francine Kaufmann and Ingrid Kurz | p. 245

Appendix I. Description of illustrations | p. 281

Appendix II. Contributors, translators and proofreaders | p. 289

Works cited | p. 295

Index of names | p. 327

“Translation scholars and translation studies are now belatedly discovering the importance of the translator. Translators Through History is an enormously valuable contribution towards redressing the balance.”

John Milton, Sao Paulo

“I congratulate the FIT, the UNESCO and John Benjamins for bringing out this useful collection.”

U.S. Bahri, Editor International Journal of Translation

“It is one of the most informative books I have ever read; not just informative about translation, but about every aspect of world culture and how it was spread.”

Barbara Wright (in In Other Words no.8/9, 1997)

“The pivotal role of translators is the unifying criterion of Delisle and Woodsworth’s seminal work on translation history: here translators are depicted as bearers of crucial historical developments, iconically represented in every chapter ... Taken together, these pictures build up a larger representation of history, as if in a mosaic, where every single component plays a fundamental role in the definition of the picture as a whole.”

Mirella Agorni, Università degli Studi di Bologna

“The book as a whole is impressive, useful, and a surprisingly good read.”

Douglas Robinson

“This work is almost overwhelming in the sheer number and richness of strands, episodes, and anecdotes it embraces. It is certainly an indispensable tool for anyone interested in translation history.”

Alex Gross

“The main value of the book is to remind us that translation, like any other profession, has had its glories and its heroes.”

Geoffrey Kingscott

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Subjects & Metadata

Linguistics

History of linguistics

Translation & Interpreting Studies

Translation Studies

BIC Subject: CFP – Translation & interpretation

BISAC Subject: LAN023000 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Translating & Interpreting

ONIX Metadata

ONIX 2.1

ONIX 3.0

U.S. Library of Congress Control Number: 95049054 | Marc record