Translation and the Problem of Sway
Author
In Translation and the Problem of Sway Douglas Robinson offers the concept of "sway" to bring together discussion of two translational phenomena that have traditionally been considered in isolation, i.e. norms and errors: norms as ideological pressures to conform to the source text, and deviations from the source text as driven by ideological pressures to conform to some extratextual authority. The two theoretical constructs around which the discussion of translational sway is organized are Peirce's "interpretant" as rethought by Lawrence Venuti and "narrativity" as rethought by Mona Baker. Robinson offers a series of “friendly amendments” to both, looking closely at specific translation histories (Alex. Matson to and from Finnish, two English translations of Dostoevsky) as well as theoretical models from Aristotle to Peirce to expand the range and power of these concepts. In addition to translation and interpreting scholars this book will be of interest to scholars of communication and social interaction.
[Benjamins Translation Library, 92] 2011. xiv, 227 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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Preface | pp. ix–xii
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Acknowledgments | pp. xiii–xiv
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Chapter 1. Introduction: Translation and sway | pp. 1–16
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Chapter 2. Lawrence Venuti on the interpretant | pp. 17–40
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Chapter 3. The case of Alex. Matson | pp. 41–112
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Chapter 4. The spatiotemporal dynamic of foreignization | pp. 113–130
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Chapter 5. Translating Dostoevsky, theorizing translation | pp. 131–160
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Chapter 6. Mona Baker on narratives | pp. 161–188
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Conclusion | pp. 189–194
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Notes | pp. 195–212
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Index | pp. 223–228
“In Translation and the Problem of Sway, Douglas Robinson succeeds in grasping the diversity of the concept of sway, discussing both the traditional views of error and bias, or as the influence of the source author, source text or source culture, or ideologically as a “collection of cultural habits channelled through interpretants and narratives” (189). Robinson’s theoretical study on translational sway opens paths for further research and puts forward an analysis in which scholars and practitioners of communication and social interaction may take real interest.”
Răzvan Săftoiu, Transilvania University of Braşov, in Word and Text. A Journal of Literary Studies and Linguistics Vol. II, Issue 2 December 2012
“This exciting book will make readers think further about the nagged but dynamic metaphor: the scientific turns or sways of postmodern translatology.”
Dinda L. Gorlée, in American Book Review, Volume 34:2 (2013), pages 26-27.
Cited by
Cited by 19 other publications
Baker, Mona
2014. The Changing Landscape of Translation and Interpreting Studies. In A Companion to Translation Studies, ► pp. 13 ff. 
Chuang, Andrew H. C. & Haoran Yang
2022. From Translationese to Emergent Irony: A Usage-Based Approach to Chinese Bèi Passive. In Concepts, Discourses, and Translations [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 357 ff.
Glynn, Dominic
2020. Theater Translation Research Methodologies. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 19 ► pp. 160940692093714 ff.
Güven, Mine
2019. Why “Sway” Again? Prosodic Constraints and Singability in Song (Re)translation. In Studies from a Retranslation Culture [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 177 ff.
Kadhim, Kais A. & Nael F. M. Hijjo
2021. The Translator’s Agency and the Text Superstructure in the English-Arabic News Translation. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 50:6 ► pp. 610 ff.
Marais, Kobus
2019. Douglas Robinson.Semiotranslating Peirce. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 31:2 ► pp. 283 ff.
Marais, Kobus & Kalevi Kull
2016. Biosemiotics and translation studies. In Border Crossings [Benjamins Translation Library, 126], ► pp. 169 ff.
Morini, Massimiliano
Robinson, Douglas
2015. The somatics of tone and the tone of somatics. Translation and Interpreting Studies 10:2 ► pp. 299 ff.
2017. What kind of literature is a literary translation?. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 29:3 ► pp. 440 ff.
2018. Reading Translational Semiotics Hermeneutically: Juri Lotman’s Культура и взрыв and Wilma Clark’s Culture and Explosion Imagined Icotically as a Single Translingual Text. Crossroads. A Journal of English Studies :20(1) ► pp. 8 ff.
2019. The Translatorial Middle Between Direct and Indirect Reports. In Indirect Reports and Pragmatics in the World Languages [Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy & Psychology, 19], ► pp. 371 ff.
2020. Rethinking dynamic equivalence as a rhetorical construct. Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies 7:2 ► pp. 119 ff.
2020. Reframing translational norm theory through 4EA cognition. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 3:1 ► pp. 122 ff.
2022. The Smuggler Translator. In The Experimental Translator [Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting, ], ► pp. 95 ff.
Sofo, Giuseppe
2020. Bibliographie. In Les éclats de la traduction, ► pp. 219 ff.
Tian, Huifang
2013. Learning to Interpret and Translate Classical Chinese Poetry. Theory and Practice in Language Studies 3:9
Wang, John Qiong & Kun Liang
2022. De/reterritorialising the historical context of translated non-fiction: a somatic approach to the two versions ofRiver Town. Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies 9:2 ► pp. 217 ff.
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Subjects & Metadata
Literature & Literary Studies
Translation & Interpreting Studies
BIC Subject: CFP – Translation & interpretation
BISAC Subject: LAN023000 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Translating & Interpreting