Contemporary German Prose in Britain and France (1980-1999)

Wiebke SIEVERS, Contemporary German Prose in Britain and France (1980-1999): A Case Study of the Significance of Otherness in Translation, Lewiston, Mellen Press, 2007, 328 p.

ISBN10 0-7734-5360-1

ISBN13 978-0-7734-5360-9 

SUMMARY

Translation negotiates otherness. Hence, otherness can be regarded as a central component of the translation process. Moreover, via disciplines, such as philosophy and anthropology, otherness in the last two decades has entered Western theories and studies of translation and become an important analytical and normative category in the field of translation studies. Nevertheless, there is an apparent lack of research considering the concept itself as well as its history and current use in the field and its relevance for the practice of translation. This book can be regarded as a first attempt to fill this gap. It reconsiders the translation theories currently known as ‘foreignizing’ and shows that some of these draw on the same nationalist agenda that they try to transcend. Moreover, the ensuing case study proves that current translation practice is still governed by a nationalist assurance of linguistic and cultural differences. This book therefore concludes by calling for a change of perspective in the theoretical and practical approaches to translation. Translation should no longer be regarded as a means of delimiting our selves from a national other, but as a way to uncover the otherness underlying these alleged selves. 

CONTENTS

Illustrations
Preface by Prof. Susan Bassnett
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 Otherness in Translation Theories
2 Otherness in Translation Practice: Contemporary German Prose in Britain and France
3 Caught in the Cold War: Monika Maron
4 Genocide and the Fantastic: Edgar Hilsenrath
5 ‘Expressing an Impossible Possibility of Being’: Anne Duden
6 Towards a Change of Perspective in Translation: Uncovering the Otherness Underlying the Selves
Appendices: The Corpus
Appendix 1: Translations Published in Britain
Appendix 2: Translations Published in France
Notes
Bibliography
Index 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Wiebke Sievers is researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and has taught at the universities of Düsseldorf, Nottingham and Vienna. She received her Ph.D. in Translation Studies from the University of Warwick. Dr. Sievers’s research interests include translation, immigrant and ethnic minority writing.