Bassnett Susan. Reflections on Translation

Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 2011. — xvi + 173 p. — ISBN: 978-1-84769-408-9 (Topics in Translation)This collection offers a fascinating and timely insight into the subject of one woman who is 'engaged in translation'… At times scholarly, at times resolutely practical, this book represents the unique ability of the translatior 'to shift perspective, to look simultaneously from within and from without, to question oneself and one's own culture as much as one questions the other'. In this highly readable, stimulating and challenging collection of essays Susan Bassnett shows the incisive intelligence, humane engagement and breadth of knowledge that have been a constant in her writings over the years. The book is a must read for anyone who cares about the present and future of translation on our planet. Susan Bassnett has done as much as anyone to help establish Translation as a rewarding subject of academic study. Now, in the thirty-nine wide-ranging chapters of this new book, she offers meditations on the subject that are as acute as they are lucid, and as lively as they are wise. Theoretically savvy and intellectually stimulating, this collection of essays, written in highly readable prose by Susan Bassnett over a period of thirty years, offers something for everyone. Professor Bassnett writes about culture, history, religion and translation, and especially about the complex, multilayered relations amongst them, in a thoughtful, deeply humane manner. Written for a general reader with an interest in language, the essays also nourish the scholarly mind. Those familiar with translation will be stimulated by the fresh approaches to well-known questions from a personable guide. To identify the subjects and themes of the essays is to capture only part of their richness. The wealth of reflection lies in the examples that emerge, effortlessly it would seem, from Bassnett’s experience and learning. It is her ability to engage with the casual and the serendipitous, to draw together moments across time and continents, that create a marvellous unity of tone, and drive home many important points about the exchange of cultures and languages.Language and Identity
Original Sin
Theory and Practice: The Old Dilemma
Dangerous Translations
How Modern Should Translations Be?
Status Anxiety
Under the Influence
Reference Point
Translation or Adaptation?
Translating Style
Telling Tales
Pride and Prejudices
Turning the Page
Poetry in Motion
When Translation Goes Horribly Wrong
Living Languages
All in the Mind
More than Words
Just What Did You Call Me?
Lost in Translation
Good Rhyme and Reason
Women’s Work
Plays for Today
Between the Lines
Playing on Words
Pleasures of Rereading
On the Case
Gained in Translation
Layers of Meaning
The Value of Comparing Translations
Where the Fun Comes In
Translators Making the News
What Exactly Did Saddam Say?
Native Strengths
What’s in a Name?
Food for Thought
Family Matters
Rethinking Theory and Practice
The Power of Poetry