Lost in Translation? The Medieval Translator. Traduire au Moyen Age
Renevey Denis et Whitehead Christiania, (eds.)
Turnhout: Brepols, 2009
The contributions to this volume are organised in a way that bear out the vitality of translation activity in the medieval period and the resourcefulness of modern scholarship in addressing the phenomenon of translation at large. No other period relies so heavily on this literary process to construct its cultural identity. Translations from Latin into the vernacular, or from one vernacular into another, or even from a vernacular into the Latin language, are just a few of the many forms medieval translation can take. The codification of the translation process as appropriation, transformation, or accommodation does not sufficiently emphasize the overarching curiosity and interest that motivates any translation activity. Rather, preceding the stages of appropriation and re-interpretation, it is positive inquisitiveness and openness towards linguistic and cultural difference that generate the production of a new text and the transference of culture from one sphere to another. Translation practice creates a dialogic exchange between cultures, it recognises difference and diversity, both linguistic and cultural, yet it also shapes its new product for the use of an audience or readership that is concurrently aware of the reciprocal need to participate in that exchange, in order to improve its own culture. It is that positive inquisitiveness which this volume emphasizes.
The volume initially addresses the way in which translators dealt with texts from the early medieval period. It then considers the phenomenon of bilingualism and the privileged relationship that England held with the continent, especially the Italian and French literary traditions. The third part of this volume tackles the problem of fifteenth-century religious translation in England and, to a lesser extent, France, and complicates it by showing its inevitable political implications. Understood more particularly as an act of cultural transfer, translation activity can also be considered beyond the linguistic process. The fourth part of the volume deals with several instances of translations from one genre into another, and from one media into another. The contributions to this volume provide some answers to conundrums in the theory and practice of translation encountered during the medieval period. They also point to new ways of considering this literary process, and by praising diversity and difference, they suggest a less traumatic way of reading Babel than is usually implied.
The Construction of Textual Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Literature.
Ghose Indira et Renevey Denis, (eds.)
SPELL 22. Tübingen: Gunterr Narr Verlag, 2009
This volume sets out to bridge the gap between medieval andearly modern literary studies. It contains a selection of essaysby both distinguished experts and young scholars in eitherfield, and marks the foundation of the Swiss Association of Medieval and Early Modern English Studies. The contributions address the crucial issue of how texts engage with othert exts. They do so in a variety of ways, focusing on pretexts,paratexts, and marginalia. What emerges is an insight into the way texts shape identity – be it that of the author, the readership, or the texts themselves.