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This article was downloaded by: On: 18 February 2009 Access details: Access Details: Free Access Publisher Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Perspectives Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t794297831
Reviews Marilyn Gaddis Rose a a State University of Binghamton, New York, USA Online Publication Date: 20 June 2006
To cite this Article Rose, Marilyn Gaddis(2006)'Reviews',Perspectives,14:1,80 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/09076760608669021 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09076760608669021
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
79
REVIEWS The reviews are ordered alphabetically according to the names of authors or editors.
Downloaded At: 23:36 18 February 2009
Hung, Eva (ed.). 2005. Translation and Cultural Change. Studies in history, norms and image-projection. (Benjamins Translation Library 61). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 193 pp. ISBN 90 272 1667 3 (Eur); 1 58811 627 1 (US). Price (Hb.): 99.00 Euros; 119.00 USD. It has long been known that translation is not so much a cross-linguistic as a crossand transcultural event. It is also well-established that translations, including poor ones, significantly contribute to the cultural development of countries and linguistic communities. What may be less obvious is that such notions as ‘translation’ and ‘culture’ are not static, precisely defined, as given, homogeneous categories, but multifaceted and somewhat fuzzy ones, which reflect the concerns, preferences, and aspirations of their host cultures. Are pseudo-translations part of a nation’s culture? And how about cultural borderlands and transitions? Can the activity of missionaries change the cultural landscape of a country? These questions emerge even more distinctly when we leave behind the well-established Anglo-European tradition, stop seeking shelter in our more or less precisely defined terminology and try to explore what we find in Asia, investigating the impact of the spread of Western culture and Christianity on the cultures of the Far East, particularly China and Japan. These and similar issues were addressed at the ‘International Conference on Culture and Translation’ in 1999. The editor of the current volume, Eva Hung (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), has put together a small and fine selection of the talks presented. She notes in her introduction that translation and interpreting are most probably as old as mankind itself, yet the scholarly investigation and systematic study of them began only in the second half of the 20th century. Translation has traditionally played an important role in second-language learning, and the translation of religious texts has highlighted the significance of some cultural aspects. The editor’s Preface is followed by eleven papers divided into four thematic parts. The first part, Translation as an agent for change, looks at translations as agents of change. Gideon Toury’s article, “Enhancing cultural changes by means of fictitious translations” shifts the focus from the translated text to the relationship between translations and the cultures that generate them. He investigates the role of translations and pseudo-translations in cultural planning. Using Afrikaans Bible translation for exemplification, Jacobus A. Naudé discusses how the translation of religious texts affects cultural change. Eva Hung’s own “Cultural borderlands in China’s translation history”, is of special interest to Western readers. The three articles in the second part, Cultural perception and translation, focus on the relationship between translation, national cultures and identities, while the third and the fourth parts, The Japanese experience, and Case studies from China, explore the impact of translations (of both fiction and non-fiction) on their respective readerships This collected volume leads us to several conclusions. First, we are urged to re-evaluate some of the concepts that may seem so self-evident to us, such as ‘identity’, ‘national culture’, ‘cultural boundaries’, etc. We have to realize that ‘culture’ is a broader, more fuzzy, and more fluid notion in the East than in the West. Consequently, cultural traditions play a more important role and influence the reception of a piece more in Japan or China than in Western countries. Research conducted under the label of ‘translation studies’, as well as translations themselves are largely influenced by the cultural environment, the dominant ideology and the social structures, defining the space available for the translator, who “is often faced with culturally sensitive material, cultural and ideological preferences and taboos”. These articles make readers familiar with Western translation theory wonder whether the well-established and central issues in the discipline, such as equivalence, textual faithfulness, understanding, and interpretation, have the same function and carry the same meaning in an Oriental context as they do in the West. Sándor Albert, University of Szeged, Hungary. **********
Downloaded At: 23:36 18 February 2009
80
2006. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology. Volume 14: 1
Kristal, Efraín. 2002. Invisible Work. Borges and Translation. Vanderbilt University Press: Nashville, Tennessee. 213 pp. ISBN 0-8265-1408-1. Price: $27.20 US. Kristal has performed an inestimable service for scholars of Jorges Luis Borges and Translation Studies. Although Borges’s skill as a translator and his use of the convention of translation have long been noted, Kristal may well be the first to collate and comment upon all of Borges’s translations, mentions of translation, and use of translation in fiction, both acknowledged and “plagiarized.” In addition, Kristal has been exhaustive in consulting innumerable (if not all) references other scholars have made to Borges and translation. His references to Translation Studies scholarship are more selective but adequate. Where Kristal is at his best and most original is in his critiques of Borges’s translations of major authors: Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, Angelus Silesius, and Snorri Sturluson. Here Kristal’s own method is exemplary (and an impressive tour de force). For Whitman and Poe (as well as for other English authors Borges translated) Kristal makes careful juxtapositions of respective passages of content and accommodatingly back-translates Borges into English to show the changes. Borges unhesitatingly “improved” originals by excisions, so that the features he considered more important would not be obscured. By gender shifts, for example, he made Whitman’s homoeroticism more subtle. With Silesius’s 17th-century German Kristal juxtaposes his own literal translation with back-translations of Borges, and with Sturluson’s 13th-century Norse, Kristal juxtaposes Jesse Byock’s translation with back-translations of Borges. In all instances, Borges tightened the narrative. With Franz Kafka, Borges was both “student” and translator; Kristal assembles a poignant chronology of Borges’s increasing humility and appreciation towards the Czech author. Discussion of the often cited “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” is limited to 12 paragraphs in the final chapter. Given the specialist audience of such a monograph, there are some curious redundancies. For example, Kristal states his purpose eight times in his “Introduction,” twice in his “Conclusion,” and once in his “Afterword.” Each of his three sections ends with an abstract of what has been said, and throughout information that was used earlier and/or will be used later is repeated. His “Acknowledgments” thank six graduate students for assembling the data, and those thanked for counsel on style may be responsible for this excess of clarity. Marilyn Gaddis Rose, State University of Binghamton (New York), USA.
Perspectives Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t794297831
Reviews Marilyn Gaddis Rose a a State University of Binghamton, New York, USA Online Publication Date: 20 June 2006
To cite this Article Rose, Marilyn Gaddis(2006)'Reviews',Perspectives,14:1,80 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/09076760608669021 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09076760608669021
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
79
REVIEWS The reviews are ordered alphabetically according to the names of authors or editors.
Downloaded At: 23:36 18 February 2009
Hung, Eva (ed.). 2005. Translation and Cultural Change. Studies in history, norms and image-projection. (Benjamins Translation Library 61). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 193 pp. ISBN 90 272 1667 3 (Eur); 1 58811 627 1 (US). Price (Hb.): 99.00 Euros; 119.00 USD. It has long been known that translation is not so much a cross-linguistic as a crossand transcultural event. It is also well-established that translations, including poor ones, significantly contribute to the cultural development of countries and linguistic communities. What may be less obvious is that such notions as ‘translation’ and ‘culture’ are not static, precisely defined, as given, homogeneous categories, but multifaceted and somewhat fuzzy ones, which reflect the concerns, preferences, and aspirations of their host cultures. Are pseudo-translations part of a nation’s culture? And how about cultural borderlands and transitions? Can the activity of missionaries change the cultural landscape of a country? These questions emerge even more distinctly when we leave behind the well-established Anglo-European tradition, stop seeking shelter in our more or less precisely defined terminology and try to explore what we find in Asia, investigating the impact of the spread of Western culture and Christianity on the cultures of the Far East, particularly China and Japan. These and similar issues were addressed at the ‘International Conference on Culture and Translation’ in 1999. The editor of the current volume, Eva Hung (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), has put together a small and fine selection of the talks presented. She notes in her introduction that translation and interpreting are most probably as old as mankind itself, yet the scholarly investigation and systematic study of them began only in the second half of the 20th century. Translation has traditionally played an important role in second-language learning, and the translation of religious texts has highlighted the significance of some cultural aspects. The editor’s Preface is followed by eleven papers divided into four thematic parts. The first part, Translation as an agent for change, looks at translations as agents of change. Gideon Toury’s article, “Enhancing cultural changes by means of fictitious translations” shifts the focus from the translated text to the relationship between translations and the cultures that generate them. He investigates the role of translations and pseudo-translations in cultural planning. Using Afrikaans Bible translation for exemplification, Jacobus A. Naudé discusses how the translation of religious texts affects cultural change. Eva Hung’s own “Cultural borderlands in China’s translation history”, is of special interest to Western readers. The three articles in the second part, Cultural perception and translation, focus on the relationship between translation, national cultures and identities, while the third and the fourth parts, The Japanese experience, and Case studies from China, explore the impact of translations (of both fiction and non-fiction) on their respective readerships This collected volume leads us to several conclusions. First, we are urged to re-evaluate some of the concepts that may seem so self-evident to us, such as ‘identity’, ‘national culture’, ‘cultural boundaries’, etc. We have to realize that ‘culture’ is a broader, more fuzzy, and more fluid notion in the East than in the West. Consequently, cultural traditions play a more important role and influence the reception of a piece more in Japan or China than in Western countries. Research conducted under the label of ‘translation studies’, as well as translations themselves are largely influenced by the cultural environment, the dominant ideology and the social structures, defining the space available for the translator, who “is often faced with culturally sensitive material, cultural and ideological preferences and taboos”. These articles make readers familiar with Western translation theory wonder whether the well-established and central issues in the discipline, such as equivalence, textual faithfulness, understanding, and interpretation, have the same function and carry the same meaning in an Oriental context as they do in the West. Sándor Albert, University of Szeged, Hungary. **********
Downloaded At: 23:36 18 February 2009
80
2006. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology. Volume 14: 1
Kristal, Efraín. 2002. Invisible Work. Borges and Translation. Vanderbilt University Press: Nashville, Tennessee. 213 pp. ISBN 0-8265-1408-1. Price: $27.20 US. Kristal has performed an inestimable service for scholars of Jorges Luis Borges and Translation Studies. Although Borges’s skill as a translator and his use of the convention of translation have long been noted, Kristal may well be the first to collate and comment upon all of Borges’s translations, mentions of translation, and use of translation in fiction, both acknowledged and “plagiarized.” In addition, Kristal has been exhaustive in consulting innumerable (if not all) references other scholars have made to Borges and translation. His references to Translation Studies scholarship are more selective but adequate. Where Kristal is at his best and most original is in his critiques of Borges’s translations of major authors: Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, Angelus Silesius, and Snorri Sturluson. Here Kristal’s own method is exemplary (and an impressive tour de force). For Whitman and Poe (as well as for other English authors Borges translated) Kristal makes careful juxtapositions of respective passages of content and accommodatingly back-translates Borges into English to show the changes. Borges unhesitatingly “improved” originals by excisions, so that the features he considered more important would not be obscured. By gender shifts, for example, he made Whitman’s homoeroticism more subtle. With Silesius’s 17th-century German Kristal juxtaposes his own literal translation with back-translations of Borges, and with Sturluson’s 13th-century Norse, Kristal juxtaposes Jesse Byock’s translation with back-translations of Borges. In all instances, Borges tightened the narrative. With Franz Kafka, Borges was both “student” and translator; Kristal assembles a poignant chronology of Borges’s increasing humility and appreciation towards the Czech author. Discussion of the often cited “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” is limited to 12 paragraphs in the final chapter. Given the specialist audience of such a monograph, there are some curious redundancies. For example, Kristal states his purpose eight times in his “Introduction,” twice in his “Conclusion,” and once in his “Afterword.” Each of his three sections ends with an abstract of what has been said, and throughout information that was used earlier and/or will be used later is repeated. His “Acknowledgments” thank six graduate students for assembling the data, and those thanked for counsel on style may be responsible for this excess of clarity. Marilyn Gaddis Rose, State University of Binghamton (New York), USA.
