Gender and Translation
Gender and Translation
Gender and Translation
In the 1990s translation studies saw a renewed interest in the analysis of gender and ideology in relation to, and interacting with, translation as theory and practice. Simon (1996) presented an extensive study of translation influenced by feminist thought, investigated gender issues in translation, and explored the ways in which women translators have been cultural mediators for centuries, creating "new lines of cultural communication" (Simon 1996: viii); likewise, von Flotow (1997) researched practices of feminist translation, from the processes of gendered translation' to the translation of ideologically hostile texts, as well as the recovery of lost' women translators of the past. Their studies, among those of many other scholars, explored translation(s) operating within language and power. The fertile discussions initiated by the interfacing of translation, gender, and ideology has opened up new perspectives and, accordingly, as von Flotow suggests at the end of her seminal book, further research needs to be done and gaps must still be filled. One of the most interesting and thought-provoking questions to offer scope for further research is that of how the ideological beliefs and gender differences of translators affect translation as a process and product.
By attempting to analyze and to discuss whether men and women translate differently, this contribution by Vanessa Leonardi goes towards filling the gap in gender-related studies in translation. The main objective of this volume is to "establish a comparative framework for the contrastive analysis of the translation strategies of male and female translators" (19) and by so doing to focus on, and to analyze "the role and effects of ideology-driven shifts in translation as a result of gender differences" (289).
Gender in Translation is a broad-ranging, imaginative and lively look at feminist issues surrounding translation studies. Students and teachers of translation studies, linguistics, gender studies and women's studies will find this unprecedented work invaluable and thought-provoking reading. Sherry Simon argues that translation of feminist texts - with a view to promoting feminist perspectives is a cultural intervention, seeking to create new cultural meanings and bring about social change. She takes a close look at specific issues which include: the history of feminist theories of language and translation studies; linguistic issues, including a critical examination of the work of Luce Irigaray; a look at women translators through history, from the Renaissance to the twentieth century; feminist translations of the Bible; an analysis of the ways in which French feminist texts such as De Beauvoir's The Second Sex have been translated into English.
Von Flotow (2001) offers a comprehensive overview of research areas in which the issue of "gender and translation" could be investigated:
1-Historical studies (who translated what when and how, and how did gender play into this?)
2- Theoretical considerations (how do different gender affiliations, definitions, constructions play themselves out in translation and translation research?)
3- Issues of identity (how does gendered identity or a lack of it affect translation, translation research?)
4- Post-colonial questions (does our largely Anglo-American "gender" apply in other cultures and their texts? Does it translate into other languages? And what does it mean if it doesn't?)
5- More general questions of cultural transfer (is the current government-supported export of Canadian women's writing, a hot commodity in some literary markets, really about Canadian tolerance and egalitarianism?)
Whereas most of researches done regarding gender in translation have dealt specifically with the issue of the translators' gender identity and its effect on their translations.
Leonardi's intriguing hypothesis is that men and women translate differently and, as a consequence, "some translation may be a result of differences in both their sex and that of the ST [source text] authors, different text types chosen for translation, and/or different socio-cultural backgrounds".
References
Simon, Sherry (1996) Gender in Translation. Cultural Identity and the Politics of Transmission. London and New York: Routledge.
Von Flotow, Luise (1997) Translation and Gender. Translating in the Era of Feminism'. Manchester: St Jerome.
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