subject: The Changing Trends In Translation From The Victorian To The Modern [print this page] Translators have played an important role in enhancing the readership of books and to popularize other language books in English speaking nations. Literary translation has undergone many radical changes since the 20th century. Translators were considered at par with the writers and they mingle with the writer's circles. Towards the latter part of the 20th century translators from various academic backgrounds joined the translators unlike the earlier trend where translation was done mostly by clergy men and unemployed women to augment their income.
The art of translation is as old as written literature and in some parts of the universe translations could be traced back to second millennium BCE. Though translators largely remained obscure and subordinate to the authors, the Copyright Act of 1911 allowed that translators to own copyright in their work with the permission of the author
The quality of the translations have considerable gone up over a period of time as these days translators are from academics background who are concerned about the quality of their work and the effects of these on the target culture. Philological knowledge of the translators was never a factor in measuring the value of a translation.
However when translators with limited proficiency in one or both the languages are involved it might result in the inadvertent usages of idioms from the source language to the target language. This might result in the importing of new words and usages from the source language to the target language. Thus translators have played a crucial role in the evolution of literary styles and languages. With the development of the internet and various translation tools, translation quality has increased many a time in recent times and at present most of them work with technical inputs and texts.
Translation has had a social impact as it enabled the foreign texts to reach mass readerships. Whenever circulation exceeded beyond the readership, the best texts of foreign literature will be selected often at the costs of native contemporary works. The editors with repute would make sure that these non translational books reach the class rooms all over the country. For instance the Gowans and Gray series of 100 Best Poems' in English, French, Spanish, and German remained in print for many decades since its original print
