And Culture Susan Bassnett Pdf | Translation History
: Bassnett rejects literal word-for-word accuracy, advocating for "functional equivalence"—achieving the same effect and meaning in the target language as in the original.
The powers (publishers, monarchs, religious institutions, or governments) that fund and control the dissemination of literature. History and Translation: A Dynamic Relationship
: She famously stated that " Language is the heart within the body of culture ," meaning one cannot translate a language without deeply understanding its underlying cultural reality.
(The volume Bassnett edited collects essays by Lefevere, Zlateva, Tymoczko, Macura, Godard, Delabastita, Simon, and others. Its structure exemplifies how history, poetics, ideology and institutions intersect.) translation history and culture susan bassnett pdf
The central premise of Translation, History and Culture is that the object of study in translation must change. Bassnett and Lefevere argued that the text is not the solitary unit of translation. Instead, the broader culture acts as the ultimate organizing unit. From Word to World
: It is required reading for almost every global Master’s and Ph.D. program in Translation Studies, Comparative Literature, and Intercultural Communication.
The most enduring contribution of the volume is the coining and popularization of the term "Cultural Turn." In the introduction and subsequent essays, Bassnett argues that the traditional dichotomy between "source" and "target" is insufficient. She posits that translation is not a sterile transfer of meaning from one language vessel to another, but a complex act of communication embedded within specific historical and cultural contexts. (The volume Bassnett edited collects essays by Lefevere,
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“The study of translation is the study of cultural interaction.”
Bassnett, S. (2013). Translation and Culture. In C. Mauranen & A. Pym (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Translation Studies (pp. 21-34). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Instead, the broader culture acts as the ultimate
To understand the impact of Translation, History, and Culture , it helps to understand its creators.
Every culture has a dominant "poetics"—an understanding of what "good" literature should look like. Translators frequently alter the style, form, or tone of an original text to make it fit the literary expectations of the target audience. Key Themes in the Text
Bassnett and Lefevere famously declared that translation is "rewriting." Every translation is an interpretation, an appropriation, or a manipulation of the original text. This means that translators are not invisible servants but active co-creators. The PDF explores how rewritings (translations, anthologies, literary histories) shape the canon of a culture.
