What Exactly is Translation History?

Translation history is sometimes presented solely as the history of translation theory, but this leaves large areas of territory unexplored and unac- counted for. Ideally it combines the history of translation theory with the study of literary and social trends in which translation has played a direct or catalytic part. It is the story of interchange between languages and between cultures and as such has implications for the study of both language and culture. It pays attention to the observations made by those who were involved in translation processes and by people whose brief it was to comment on the finished product or the context of the translation activity. Closely allied to literary history, translation history can describe changes in literary trends, account for the regeneration of a culture, trace changes in politics or ideology and explain the expansion and transfer of thought and knowledge in a particular era. It may also be used as a tool to open up the study of similar texts across cultures, or of the same text through time. It is surprisingly relevant to many areas of literary study, and absolutely central to some.

It goes without saying that each culture will have its own particular translation history according to the historical and political events that have shaped it. What we should be discussing here perhaps are translation histo- ries, since the term in the singular suggests that there is a fixed sequence of events from which we can draw universally applicable conclusions, and this is not the case. There are of course periods in history featuring translation that are common to many cultures. The expansion of the Roman empire, for example, the Ottoman empire, the invention of printing or the

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Reformation all had impact on most areas of Europe and its translation activities. Other continents will have experienced other invasions, other advances in technologies, other religions. Events like these are always good points of departure for research, but their effect on an individual culture varies according to the local context. The problem is to find a way through the maze of historical material and emerge triumphant with specific infor- mation relating to case studies in translation. Before attempting to navigate the way, it might be a good idea to ask what exactly is the purpose in studying translation history.

How Important is Translation History?

The study of translation history reminds us that translation is a human activity that has been going on since language began to evolve and may be

affected by all kinds of external events, as unexpected as they are uncon- trollable. It shows us, if we did not already know, that translation principles

cannot always be defined and adhered to like scientific formulae, but at times remain as flexible and as fickle as language itself. Placing translated

texts into their historical contexts helps define and account for the policies employed by past translators and so gives at least a point of departure for

developing strategies. Through history we encounter examples of the darker possibilities of translation, of the opportunities for distortion or manipulation of text, of the translations undertaken with hostile intent.

Looking at the history of translation theory gives bases for comparison and demonstrates whether translators are making progress or simply repeating

the same mistakes. It also helps to assess whether modern theorists are saying something new or simply repeating the same ideas in different

language.

The study of prefaces or postscripts of a past age may reveal the transla-

tors' attitudes towards both translation and the translated text. The 1582 preface to the Rheims translation of the Bible, to take one example, reveals that some translations are performed with the utmost reluctance (Pollard,

1911: 301). Alexander Ross's preface to his translation of the Qur'an from the French version in 1649 informs the reader that there is such a thing as hostile translation, a translation performed for the purpose of challenging

the text rather than promoting it (Arberry, 1955: 8). Through the study of translators' commentaries it can be demonstrated that there is sometimes a discrepancy between the intention of the translator and the realisation of that intention, a subliminal shift in ideology of which the translator is unaware. (See Belitt (1978) on his translation of Neruda's Fulgor y Muerte de

Joachim Murieta and then read the translation.) In other words, translators

History and Translation

65 do not always do what they say they are doing or, indeed, what they think

they are doing.

Case studies viewed historically can reveal so much about strategies and conventions. It is possible to trace the progress of the Phaedra story, for example, from Euripides' Hippolytus, via Seneca's Latin Phaedra, Racine's Phedre to Edmund Smith's English translation of Racine, to continue through J.C. Knight, John Cairncross and Robert Lowell's versions of the same and to conclude by looking at Ted Hughes' translation, the modern

version of Paul Schmidt and the controversial play by Sarah Kane. The history of Phaedra in translation teaches how translation conforms (or not)

to the dramatic and cultural conventions of the target language. It addresses adaptation as a form of translation, shows how subtlety in choice of words can change a character, gives strategies for coping with verse forms that do not exist in the target language, and also illustrates the differ- ence between translating for performance and producing a text in the target language.

It may come to us as something of a shock to realise that many of the texts that we treat as English originals are in fact translations, some from other languages, some from older forms of English, some from both. The Bible, The Iliad, Beowulf, the works of Dante, Chaucer, Cervantes, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Hugo, Goethe, Neruda are just a few examples. How many people watching a production of Ghosts or The Cherry Orchard or The House of Bernada Alba are truly aware of the translation implications surrounding what they see and hear? How many readers of the Bible are conscious of the significance of the translation history of what they read? Being aware of translation issues in literary studies sharpens the skills required for textual analysis and, depending on the depth of research, may encourage consulta- tion of the original or at least other translations of the same text.

It is important to make the connection between technological developments in history such as the invention of paper or the introduction of printing, and developments in society such as the increase in literacy and

the rise in the use of the vernacular. History may equip society to deal better with innovations that affect modern perspectives. It raises awareness, for example, that the use of computer technology may affect the way that people work with texts in the same way that the invention of printing changed the 15th century perception of the written word. The possibilities

for corpus research are now greater than ever before, and the advances in machine translation have become more realistic now that so much informa-

tion can be stored in such small packages. But as yet there is some way to go before the human element can be completely withdrawn from the transla-

tion process. Translation experience should at least help us to recognise the

66 A Companion to Translation Studies advantages and disadvantages of press button conversion from language

to language when clicking on translate this page.

What Exactly is Translation History?