This book explores the uses of translation, translators, and interpreters in fiction as a gateway to introduce issues related to Translation Studies. The volume follows recent scholarship on Transfiction, a term used to describe the portrayal of translation (both a topic and a motif), as well as translators and interpreters in fiction and film. It expands on the research by Kalus Kaindl, Karleheinz Splitzl, Michael Cronin, and Rosemary Arrojo, among others. Although the volume reflects the preoccupation with translator visibility, it concentrates on the importance of power struggles within the translatorial task. The volume could be an invaluable tool to be used for pedagogical purposes to discuss theoretical aspects within Translation and Interpreting Studies.

This book explores the uses of translation, translators, and interpreters in fiction as a gateway to introduce issues related to Translation Studies. The volume follows recent scholarship on Transfiction, a term used to describe the portrayal of translation (both a topic and a motif), as well as translators and interpreters in fiction and film. It expands on the research by Kalus Kaindl, Karleheinz Splitzl, Michael Cronin, and Rosemary Arrojo, among others. Although the volume reflects the preoccupation with translator visibility, it concentrates on the importance of power struggles within the translatorial task. The volume could be an invaluable tool to be used for pedagogical purposes to discuss theoretical aspects within Translation and Interpreting Studies.

This volume on Transfiction (understood as an aestheticized imagination of translatorial action) recognizes the power of fiction as a vital and pulsating academic resource, and in doing so helps expand the breadth and depth of TS. The book covers a selection of peer-reviewed papers from the 1st International Conference on Fictional Translators and Interpreters in Literature and Film (held at the University of Vienna, Austria in 2011) and links literary and cinematic works of translation fiction to state-of-the-art translation theory and practice. It presents not just a mixed bag of cutting-edge views and perspectives, but great care has been taken to turn it into a well-rounded transficcionario with a fluid dialogue among its 22 chapters. Its investigation of translatorial action in the mirror of fiction (i.e. beyond the cognitive barrier of ‘fact’) and its multiple transdisciplinary trajectories make for thought-provoking readings in TS, comparative literature, as well as foreign language and literature courses.

Dieser Band präsentiert Beiträge namhafter Autor:innen zur translatorischen Theorie und Praxis. Die Themen reichen von der Ausgestaltung der Disziplin, unter anderem mit Blick auf zentrale Grundfragen des Übersetzens, Aspekte von Multimodalität und soziokognitive Translationsprozesse, bis hin zu Studien aus dem Feld der (Literary) Translator Studies, in denen Übersetzer:innen als Gestalter:innen im Zentrum stehen. Weitere Abschnitte widmen sich dem weiten Feld der literarischen Übersetzung, mit Fallstudien zu Übersetzungen aus verschiedenen Genres (Belletristik, Lyrik, Theatertexte, Operntexte, Jugendliteratur, Comics), sowie dem Wirken von fiktionalen Translator:innen in Film und Literatur. Ein persönlicher Nachklang mit Fokus auf dem Operntext als Übersetzungsphänomen runden den Sammelband ab. Der Band richtet sich an Forscher:innen aus der Translationswissenschaft und verwandten Disziplinen. Er liefert einen Einblick in rezente zentrale Entwicklungen des Fachs und spiegelt die facettenreiche Themenvielfalt aktuellen translationswissenschaftlichen Schaffens.

This collection seeks to expand the centers from which scholars theorize translation, building on themes in Rosemary Arrojo’s pioneering work on transfiction and the influence of bordering disciplines in investigating and elucidating questions central to the field of translation studies. Chapters by scholars around the world theorize translation from diverse perspectives, drawing on a wide range of literatures, genres, and media, including fiction, philosophy, drama, and film. Half the chapters explore the influence of Rosemary Arrojo’s work on transfiction and the ways in which fictional representations of translators and translation can shed new light on theoretical concerns. The other chapters look to fields outside translation studies, such as linguistics, media studies, and philosophy, to demonstrate the ways in which the key thinkers and theories that have influenced Arrojo’s work can be seen in other disciplines and in turn, encourage further cross-disciplinary research interrogating key questions in the field. The collection makes the case for a multi-layered approach to theorizing translation, one which accounts for the rich possibilities in revisiting existing work and thinking outside disciplinary boundaries in order to advance the field. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in translation studies and comparative literature.

In The Fictions of Translation, emerging and seasoned scholars from a range of cultures bring fresh perspectives to bear on the age-old practice of translation. The current movement of people, knowledge and goods around the world has made intercultural communication both prevalent and indispensable. Consequently, the translator has become a more prominent figure and translation an increasingly present theme in works of literature. Embedding translation in a fictional setting and considering its most extreme forms – pseudotranslation or self-translation, for example – are fruitful ways of conceptualizing the act of translating and extending the boundaries of translation studies. Taken together, the various translational fictions examined in this collection yield new insights into questions of displacement, migration and hybridity, all characteristic of the modern world. The Fictions of Translation will thus be of interest to practising translators, students and scholars of translation and literary studies, as well as a more general readership.

Through close readings of select stories and novels by well-known writers from different literary traditions, Fictional Translators invites readers to rethink the main clichés associated with translations and shines a light on the transformative character of the translator's role and the relationships that can be established between originals and their reproductions. This book is key reading for students and researchers of Literary Translation, Comparative Literature and Translation Theory.