Read complete books and articles on: Translating Languages

Translation - [Lat.,=carrying across], the rendering of a text into another language. Applied to literature, the term connotes the art of recomposing a work in another language without losing its original flavor, or of finding an analogous substitute, for example, Scott Moncrieff's Remembrance of Things Past for Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu, which, translated literally, means "Looking for Lost Time." Translations of the most ancient texts extant into modern languages are called decipherments. Two well-known examples are the decoding of the Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone (see under Rosetta) by Jean François Champollion and the decoding of the Persian cuneiform inscriptions on the rock of Behistun by Henry Rawlinson. Translating sacred texts has always been the chief means by which a culture transmits its values to posterity. Important translations of the Bible began with the Vulgate (Hebrew and Greek into Latin) of St. Jerome in the 4th cent. a.d. English translations of the Bible include that of John Wyclif in the 14th cent. (from Latin), William Tyndale's in the 16th cent. (from Hebrew and Greek), and the great Authorized Version of 1611, the King James Version, which has been called the most influential work of translation in any language. The Renaissance was a golden age of translations, especially into English. Renewed interest in the Latin classics created a demand for renderings of Ovid's Metamorphoses (tr. by Arthur Golding, 1565–67), Vergil's Aeneid (tr. by Gawin Douglas, c.1515; Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, c.1540; and Richard Stanyhurst, 1582), and Plutarch's Lives (tr. by Sir Thomas North, 1579). The flavor of these renderings is indicated in the opening lines of Stanyhurst's Aeneid: "Now manhood and garbroyles [battles] I chaunt, and martial horror." In addition there were translations of important contemporary works into English: Castiglione's Courtier (tr. by Sir Thomas Hoby, 1561), Montaigne's Essais (tr. by John Florio, 1603), and Cervantes's Don Quixote (tr. by John Shelton, 1612). Notable translations of the 19th and 20th cent. include Baudelaire's translations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Scott Moncrieff's translation of Proust, and Eustache Morel's translation of James Joyce. American authors whose works have been translated into several European languages include Mark Twain, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Pearl Buck, Margaret Mitchell (Gone with the Wind ), and Upton Sinclair, who set a record with translations into 47 languages.

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Translating Languages

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

What Is Translation? Centrifugal Theories, Critical Interventions » Read Now
by Douglas Robinson. 222 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

In What Is Translation? Douglas Robinson investigates the present state of translation studies and looks ahead to the exciting new directions in which he sees the field moving. Reviewing the work of such theorists as Frederick Rener, Rita Copeland, Eric Cheyfitz, Andre Lefevere, Anthony Pym, Suzanne...
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In What Is Translation? Douglas Robinson investigates the present state of translation studies and looks ahead to the exciting new directions in which he sees the field moving. Reviewing the work of such theorists as Frederick Rener, Rita Copeland, Eric Cheyfitz, Andre Lefevere, Anthony Pym, Suzanne Jill Levine, and Philip E. Lewis, he both celebrates and critiques the last decade's work.
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2.

Translating Cultures: Perspectives on Translation and Anthropology » Read Now
by Paula G. Rubel, Abraham Rosman. 297 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The task of the anthropologist is to take ideas, concepts and beliefs from one culture and translate them into first another language, and then into the language of anthropology. This process is both fascinating and complex. Not only does it raise questions about the limitations of language, but it...
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The task of the anthropologist is to take ideas, concepts and beliefs from one culture and translate them into first another language, and then into the language of anthropology. This process is both fascinating and complex. Not only does it raise questions about the limitations of language, but it also challenges the ability of the anthropologist to communicate culture accurately. In recent years, postmodern theories have tended to call into question the legitimacy of translation altogether. This book acknowledges the problems involved, but shows definitively that 'translating cultures' can successfully be achieved.The way we talk, write, read and interpret are all part of a translation process. Many of us are not aware of translation in our everyday lives, but for those living outside their native culture, surrounded by cultural difference, the ability to translate experiences and thoughts becomes a major issue. Drawing on case studies and theories from a wide range of disciplines -including anthropology, philosophy, linguistics, art history, folk theory, and religious studies - this book systematically interrogates the meaning, complexities and importance of translation in anthropology and answers a wide range of provocative questions, such as:· Can we unravel the true meaning of the Christian doctrine of trinity when there have been so many translations?· What impact do colonial and postcolonial power structures have on our understanding of other cultures?· How can we use art as a means of transgressing the limitations of linguistic translation?Translating Cultures: Perspectives on Translation and Anthropology is the first book fully to address translation in anthropology. It combines textual and ethnographic analysis to produce a benchmark publication that will be of great importance to anthropologists, philosophers, linguists, historians, and cultural theorists alike.
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3.

Interpreting as a Discourse Process (Chap. 3 "Translation and Interpretation") » Read Now
by Cynthia B. Roy. 146 pgs.

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This book studies interpreting between languages as a discourse process and as about managing ccommunication between two people who do not speak a common language. Roy examines the turn exchanges of a face-to-face interpreted event in order to offer a definition of interpreted events, describe the...
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This book studies interpreting between languages as a discourse process and as about managing ccommunication between two people who do not speak a common language. Roy examines the turn exchanges of a face-to-face interpreted event in order to offer a definition of interpreted events, describe the process of taking turns with an interpreter, and account for the role of the interpreter in terms of the performance in interaction.
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4.

Communication, Language, and Meaning: Psychological Perspectives (Chap. 25 "Translation and Bilingualism") » Read Now
by George A. Miller. 304 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

...professional training. God created in Babel the first proliferation of languages; now man has compounded the problem by his own invention of languages for talking about...
5.

The Craft & Context of Translation: A Symposium (1961) » Read Now
by William Arrowsmith, Roger Shattuck. 210 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...that many poets lack the necessary languages and that only a poet -- a poet, possibly...in another that we have no difficulty translating as we go along. Of course, there...
6.

Translation: An Elizabethan Art (1931) » Read Now
by F. O. Matthiessen. 248 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...my duetie done in translating the thirde booke...this booke into other languages can excuse themselves...judgment was great in translating out of one tongue...his own true...
7.

The Experience of the Foreign: Culture and Translation in Romantic Germany » Read Now
by Antoine Berman, S. Heyvaert. 268 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...motion the translating drive. Robin...two native languages: Fissel, a...both cases translating is a "romanticizing...stand with languages, with the concrete...appears when...
8.

The Spoken Word and the Work of Interpretation (Part One "Transcription and Translation") » Read Now
by Dennis Tedlock. 366 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...3. Story-telling. 4. Translating and interpreting. 5. Language and languages -- Phonetic transcriptions...ear than those of the translating mythographer. My own...
9.

Tokens of Exchange: The Problem of Translation in Global Circulations » Read Now
by Lydia H. Liu. 458 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...be capable of translating the "equivalent...in the European languages. After many experiments...Roger Hart Translating the Untranslatable...translations across languages...
10.

The Transparent Eye: Reflections on Translation, Chinese Literature, and Comparative Poetics » Read Now
by Eugene Chen Eoyang. 318 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...the Christian Bible, which involved translating from two different languages, may be an early and premonitory postBabelian...on the characteristics of individual languages;...
11.

The Art of Translation, in Contemporary Review » Read Now
by Stefan Ball. 5 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...computer program, was translating some 45,000 words...in two different languages. The US Air Force...word that they are translating. In the end humans...equivalences across...
12.

Here's a Twist: Talk about Translation, in Business Communication Quarterly » Read Now
by Irina Serebryakova-Collins. 3 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...formal and stiff. So translating an author who uses...the source and target languages are different, the...in source and target languages * replace the image...which it was...
13.

Translating as a Feminist: Reconceiving Anna Margolin, in Prooftexts » Read Now
by Kathryn Hellerstein. 28 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Literature, Entire Library

...confessional and autobiographical poems. 19 Translating this poem in a feminist context, asking...in English. Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures University of...
14.

Translations and Other Ways in Which One Literature Refracts Another, in Symposium » Read Now
by Andre Lefevere. 16 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...their culture at the time of translating. They can choose to adopt...or not necessarily tied to languages, and since Latin is part...expects of the love lyric by...
15.

In Discordance with the Scriptures: American Protestant Battles over Translating the Bible » Read Now
by Peter J. Thuesen. 240 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

The story of the translation of the Bible in America begins with the King James Version. In fact, many Americans thought of the KJV as the foundational text of the Republic, rather than a cultural inheritance from Anglican Britain. In the nineteenth century, however, as new editions of the Greek New...
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The story of the translation of the Bible in America begins with the King James Version. In fact, many Americans thought of the KJV as the foundational text of the Republic, rather than a cultural inheritance from Anglican Britain. In the nineteenth century, however, as new editions of the Greek New Testament appeared, scholars increasingly recognized significant errors and inconsistencies in the KJV. This soon 1ed to the Bible revision movement, whose goal was the uniting of all English-speaking Protestants behind one new, improved version of the Bible. Ironically, as Peter Thuesen shows in this fascinating history, the revision movement in fact resulted in a vast proliferation of English scripture editions and an enduring polarization of American Christians over versions of Holy Writ. The recurrent controversies over Bible translations, he argues, tell us less about the linguistic issues dividing conservatives and liberals than about the theological assumptions they have long held in common.
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16.

A Format and Method for Translating Songs, in Journal of American Folklore » Read Now
by Donald Bahr. 13 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Format and Method for Translating Songs THIS PAPER...form across the two languages in question. In the...is that if we were translating Piman (Pima-Papago...neighboring...