The Oxford History of Literary Translation in English Volume 3: 1660-1790
David Hopkins editor Stuart Gillespie editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:6th Oct '05
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Volume 3 of the Oxford History of Literary Translation in English, the first of the five to appear, lies at the chronological centre of the History, and explores in full breadth both the rich tradition of translated literature in English, and its centrality to the 'native' tradition. Quite independently of their wider impact, the translations of the age of Dryden and Pope, Behn and Smart, Macpherson and Smollett in themselves command the fullest attention, and Volume 3 explores their intrinsic interest as fully-fledged English literary works. In this period, translation - particularly from Latin, Greek, and French - acts as a constant point of reference and a crucial shaping force in English writing. It is an era in which key literary innovations - the heroic couplet, the sublime, primitivism - are fostered, and sometimes directly occasioned, by translation as a discipline and by translations as models. This volume also attends, therefore, to the influence of translation on forms and styles used in the wider literary arena, and its contribution to conceptions of the English literary canon (for which this period was formative). Volume 3 draws on the work of thirty-two contributors from six countries in order to deal adequately with the prolific and diffuse nature of the translation phenomenon in the 1660-1790 period, and the challenge it presents to literary scholarship as traditionally organized. To the audience it will find among scholars of English Literature and elsewhere, this complete version of a story hitherto told only piecemeal will be a revelation. This volume proposes a map of the period completely different from those drawn in other modern literary histories, a map in which boundaries between 'original' and translated work in publishers' output, in readers' experience, in writers' oeuvres, and in the English literary achievement as a whole are redrawn - or erased - at a stroke. What is more, it demonstrates that such a view of English literature was predominant within the period itself.
...monumental achievement...admirably comprehensive project. * Diego Saglia *
...characterised by clarity and coherence, and which provides an excellent balance between brief summary easily accessible to the non-specialist and detailed critical study of interest to readers with greater knowledge in particular areas. * Anne Cameron, The Seventeenth Century *
Anyone asking questions about literary reception or more generally considering the myriad effects of translation in English during the period will do well to have this invaluable book at hand. * Adam Rounce, Modern Philology *
A major resource that will provide new insights into the development of the literary canon... the amount of information contained is prodigious...should remain a standard reference work for a long time. * Alan Turner, Modern Language Quarterly *
The five-volume Oxford History of Literary Translation in English...is in a superior category altogether, obviously planned with careful thought and organization...this splendid volume makes an auspicious start for what promises to be a very important history. It goes far towards establishing for the first time how ubiquitous is the contribution that translation has made to our literature. * Alistair Fowler, Translation and Literature *
The editors and contributors are to be warmly congratulated for assembling, consolidating and making available so much useful knowledge * William St Clair, TLS *
For academics and general readers with an interest in the Restoration and Enlightenment period of English literature, this book is a fascinating source of information which through its judicious selection of examples of translated work gives the reader a clear idea of the strengths of the individual works under discussion. * John Style, European Journal of English Studies *
This History deals with its huge subject area... and treats biblical translation by breaking down its material into succinct, well-referenced sub-chapters by various expert hands ..the coverage is excellent, and the excitement of opening up relatively unknown areas comes across in most of the contributions. * Juan Pellicer, The Year's Work in English Studies *
ISBN: 9780199246229
Dimensions: 242mm x 164mm x 48mm
Weight: 1033g
584 pages