Translation Changes Everything

Lawrence Venuti is one of the most important theorists in translation studies and his work has helped shape the development of this vibrant field. Translation Changes Everything brings together thirteen of his most significant articles.

In Translation Changes Everything leading theorist Lawrence Venuti gathers fourteen of his incisive essays since 2000. The selection sketches the trajectory of his thinking about translation while engaging with the main trends in research and commentary. The issues covered include basic concepts like equivalence, retranslation, and reader reception; sociological topics like the impact of translations in the academy and the global cultural economy; and philosophical problems such as the translator’s unconscious and translation ethics. Every essay presents case studies that include Venuti’s own translation projects, illuminating the connections between theoretical concepts and verbal choices. The texts, drawn from a broad variety of languages, are both humanistic and pragmatic, encompassing such forms as poems and novels, religious and philosophical works, travel guidebooks and advertisements. The discussions all explore practical applications, whether writing, publishing, reviewing, teaching or studying translations. Venuti’s aim is to conceive of translation as an interpretive act with far-reaching social effects, at once enabled and constrained by specific cultural situations. This latest chapter in his developing work is essential reading for translators and students of translation alike.

A definitive survey of the most important developments in translation theory and research, with an emphasis on the twentieth century. This new edition includes pre-twentieth century readings and readings from other fields.

Translation is stigmatized as a form of writing, discouraged by copyright law, deprecated by the academy, exploited by publishers and corporations, governments and religious organizations. Lawrence Venuti exposes what he refers to as the 'scandals of translation' by looking at the relationship between translation and those bodies - corporations, governments, religious organizations, publishers - who need the work of the translator yet marginalize it when it threatens their cultural values. Venuti illustrates his arguments with a wealth of translations from The Bible, the works of Homer, Plato and Wittgenstein, Japanese and West African novels, advertisements and business journalism.

Since publication over ten years ago, The Translator’s Invisibility has provoked debate and controversy within the field of translation and become a classic text. Providing a fascinating account of the history of translation from the seventeenth century to the present day, Venuti shows how fluency prevailed over other translation strategies to shape the canon of foreign literatures in English and investigates the cultural consequences of the receptor values which were simultaneously inscribed and masked in foreign texts during this period. The author locates alternative translation theories and practices in British, American and European cultures which aim to communicate linguistic and cultural differences instead of removing them. In this second edition of his work, Venuti: clarifies and further develops key terms and arguments responds to critical commentary on his argument incorporates new case studies that include: an eighteenth century translation of a French novel by a working class woman; Richard Burton's controversial translation of the Arabian Nights; modernist poetry translation; translations of Dostoevsky by the bestselling translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky; and translated crime fiction updates data on the current state of translation, including publishing statistics and translators’ rates. The Translator’s Invisibility will be essential reading for students of translation studies at all levels. Lawrence Venuti is Professor of English at Temple University, Philadelphia. He is a translation theorist and historian as well as a translator and his recent publications include: The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference and The Translation Studies Reader, both published by Routledge.

Contra Instrumentalism questions the long-accepted notion that translation reproduces or transfers an invariant contained in or caused by the source text. This "instrumental" model of translation has dominated translation theory and commentary for more than two millennia, and its influence can be seen today in elite and popular cultures, in academic institutions and in publishing, in scholarly monographs and in literary journalism, in the most rarefied theoretical discourses and in the most commonly used clichés. Contra Instrumentalism aims to end the dominance of instrumentalism by showing how it grossly oversimplifies translation practice and fosters an illusion of immediate access to source texts. Lawrence Venuti asserts that all translation is an interpretive act that necessarily entails ethical responsibilities and political commitments. Venuti argues that a hermeneutic model offers a more comprehensive and incisive understanding of translation that enables an appreciation of not only the creative and scholarly aspects of what a translator does but also the crucial role translation plays in the cultural and social institutions that shape human life.

Over the past half century, translation studies has emerged decisively as an academic field around the world, and in recent years the number of academic institutions offering instruction in translation has risen along with an increased demand for translators, interpreters and translator trainers. Teaching Translation is the most comprehensive and theoretically informed overview of current translation teaching. Contributions from leading figures in translation studies are preceded by a substantial introduction by Lawrence Venuti, in which he presents a view of translation as the ultimate humanistic task – an interpretive act that varies the form, meaning, and effect of the source text. 26 incisive chapters are divided into four parts, covering: certificate and degree programs teaching translation practices studying translation theory, history, and practice surveys of translation pedagogies and key textbooks The chapters describe long-standing programs and courses in the US, Canada, the UK, and Spain, and each one presents an exemplary model for teaching that can be replicated or adapted in other institutions. Each contributor responds to fundamental questions at the core of any translation course – for example, how is translation defined? What qualifies students for admission to the course? What impact does the institutional site have upon the course or pedagogy? Teaching Translation will be relevant for all those working and teaching in the areas of translation and translation studies. Additional resources for Translation and Interpreting Studies are available on the Routledge Translation Studies Portal.

Ecology has become a central question governing the survival and sustainability of human societies, cultures and languages. In this timely study, Michael Cronin investigates how the perspective of the Anthropocene, or the effect of humans on the global environment, has profound implications for the way translation is considered in the past, present and future. Starting with a deep history of translation and ranging from food ecology to inter-species translation and green translation technology, this thought-provoking book offers a challenging and ultimately hopeful perspective on how translation can play a vital role in the future survival of the planet.