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

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.

Dror Abend-David is Lecturer in 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 he has published extensively on translation in relation to media, literature, and Jewish culture.