Representing Translation: The Representation of Translation and Translators in Contemporary Media - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1501333879 ISBN 13: 9781501333873

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019

Synopsis

In an increasingly global and multilingual society, translators have transitioned from unobtrusive stagehands to key intercultural mediators-a development that is reflected in contemporary media. From Coppola's Lost in Translation to television's House M.D., and from live performance to social media, translation is rendered as not only utilitarian, but also performative and communicative.

In examining translation as a captivating theme in film, television, commercials, and online content, this multinational collection engages with the problems and limitations faced by translators, as well as the ethical and philosophical aspects of translation and Translation Studies. Contributors examine the role of the translator (as protagonist, agent, negotiator, and double-agent), translation in global communication, the presentation of visual texts, multilingualism in contemporary media, and the role of foreign languages in advertisements. Translation and translators are shown as inseparable parts of a contemporary life that is increasingly multilingual, multiethnic, multinational and socially diverse.

About this title

About the Author

Dror Abend-David is Lecturer at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Florida, USA. He is the author of Scorned My Nation: A Comparison of Translations of The Merchant of Venice into German, Hebrew and Yiddish (2003) and the editor of Media and Translation (2014). He has published extensively on translation in relation to media, literature, and Jewish culture.

Review

“This timely book makes a very important contribution to the growing field of translation and media. Unusual in placing the translator firmly in the spotlight, these varied and informative studies show how translators and translating are presented in films, or represented in advertisements, or discussed on social media. A fascinating and instructive resource for researchers and students at all levels.” ―Jean Boase-Beier, Professor Emerita of Literature and Translation, University of East Anglia, UK

“A most welcome follow-up to Abend-David's Media and Translation, this book offers a provocative and engaging look at translation not so much as an operation but as the complex protagonist of the communication exchanges. Spanning a wide array of geographical and disciplinary perspectives – from China, to South Africa, to Europe, to America, and from gender studies, media studies, ethics, and politics – Representing Translation is a refreshing addition to the literature that is to become an indispensable reference.” ―Dr. Emilio Audissino, Honorary Fellow in Film Studies, University of Southampton, UK

“This collection of the latest thinking on audiovisual representations of translation and interpreting episodes in multilingual films throws into graphic relief the ineluctable tension between the ubiquity of machine or auto-generated translations in the mass media and the need for genuinely humanistic translation solutions perceptive of diverse cultures.” ―Alexander Burak, Associate Professor of Russian Studies, University of Florida, USA

“The possibilities and impossibilities of translating texts, emotions, cultural codes, social norms and linguistic subtleties fascinate contemporary cinema, television, advertising, and social media. Representing Translation: The Representation of Translation and Translators in Contemporary Media is a significant contribution to scholarship on these exuberant topics and a timely reconsideration of the interrelations between translation, culture and mass communications.” ―Dr. Gilad Padva, Lecturer in Cultural Studies, University of Haifa, Israel

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1501333879
• ISBN 13: 9781501333873
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 244
• Editor: Abend-David Dror