This comprehensive volume highlights the place of translation in our culture, encouraging awareness of the process of translating and the choices involved. Concentrating on major writers and works, it covers translations out of Arabic, French, German, Greek, Hebrew and Yiddish, Indian, Italian, Latin, and Russian, as well as African, Celtic, Central and East European, East and West Asian, Hispanic, and Northern European languages. For some works that have been much translated, the discussion is historical and critical, showing how translation has evolved over the centuries and bringing out the differences between versions. With less familiar literatures, the Guide examines the extent to which translation has done justice to the range of work available. The book is divided into two parts, linked by cross-references. Part I contains substantial essays on theoretical questions, a pioneering outline of the history of translation into English, and discussions of the specific types of text, such as poetry and oral literature. The second part consists of entries grouped by language of origin; some are devoted to individual texts, but most offer a critical overview of a genre or national literature. Each entry has a selective bibliography, and there is an extensive index of authors and translators. [Source: abstract of the Center for Translation Studies, University of Texas at Dallas]