The Art of Translation in Light of Bakhtin’s Re-accentuation

About the Author

Slav N. Gratchev is Professor of Spanish at Marshall University, USA. He is the author or editor of eight books, including The Poetics of the Avant-garde in Literature, Arts, and Philosophy (2020).

Brian James Baer is Professor of Russian and Translation Studies at Kent State University, USA. He is the author of Other Russias: Homosexuality and the Crisis of Post-Soviet Identity, which was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011, and the editor or co-editor of five books, including Russian Writers on Translation. An Anthology (co-edited with Natalia Olshanskaya, 2013). He is the Founding Editor of the journal Translation and Interpreting Studies.

Margarita Marinova is Professor of English at Christopher Newport University, USA. She is the author or editor of four books, including Mikhail Bakhtin: The Duvakin Interviews, 1973 (2019).

Michelle Woods is Associate Professor of English at The State University of New York, New Paltz, USA. Previously she was Director of the Centre for Translation and Textual Studies at Dublin City University, Republic of Ireland.


Product Description

Although Mikhail Bakhtin's study of the novel does not focus in any systematic way on the role that translation plays in the processes of novelistic creation and dissemination, when he does broach the topic he grants translation'a disproportionately significant role in the emergence and constitution of literature.

The contributors to this volume, from the US, Hong Kong, Finland, Japan, Spain, Italy, Bangladesh, and Belgium, bring their own polyphonic experiences with the theory and practice of translation to the discussion of Bakhtin's ideas about this topic, in order to illuminate their relevance to translation studies today. Broadly stated, the essays examine the art of translation as an exercise in a cultural re-accentuation (a transferal of the original text and its characters to the novel soil of a different language and culture, which inevitably leads to the proliferation of multivalent meanings), and to explore the various re-accentuation devices employed over the span of the last 100 years in translating modern texts from one language to another.

Through its contributors, The Art of Translation in Light of Bakhtin's Re-accentuation brings together different cultural contexts and disciplines (such as literature, literary theory, the visual arts, pedagogy, translation studies, and philosophy) to demonstrate the continued international relevance of Bakhtin's ideas to the study of creative practices, broadly understood.

Review

“This collection of essays restores Bakhtin's fundamental significance to translation studies as an inter-cultural dialogue with philosophy, literary studies, and diverse creative practices.” ―Suzanne Jill Levine, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, and author of The Subversive Scribe: Translating Latin American Fiction

“The Art of Translation explores how Mikhail Bakhtin's heteroglossic approach to the study of texts might be relevant to the work of translation. How should we take into account the different understandings of context? Can the dialogic method in literary analysis be applied not only to translating poetry and art narrative but to the prosaic genres as well? The contributors' responses to these questions are thoughtful and provocative.” ―Norbert Francis, Professor Emeritus of Bilingual and Multicultural Education, Northern Arizona University, USA

“The Art of Translation represents a truly original and well-argued collection of essays. The volume features scholars from the United States, Europe, and Asia, and presents twelve studies on an impressive variety of topics related to Bakhtin, translation, and re-accentuation. Whether dealing with James Joyce, Margaret Mitchell, Eduardo Mendoza, Lewis Carroll, or Antonio Muñoz Molina, the book provides valuable insights about Bakhtin's continuing importance in the twenty-first century.” ―Ricardo Castell