Edinburgh Critical Studies in Literary Translation – serie

The first in-depth analysis of Lydia Davis's translations and writing'The Many Voices of Lydia Davis' shows how translation, rewriting and intertextuality are central to the work of Lydia Davis, a major American writer, translator and essayist. Winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2013, Davis writes innovative short stories that question the boundaries of the genre. She is also an important translator of French writers such as Maurice Blanchot, Michel Leiris, Marcel Proust and Gustave Flaubert. Translation and writing go hand-in-hand in Davis's work. Through a series of readings, this study investigates how Davis's translations and stories relate to each other, finding that they are inextricably interlinked. It explores how Davis uses translation - either as a compositional tool or a plot device - and other instances of rewriting in her stories, demonstrating that translation is central for understanding her prose. Understanding how Davis's work complicates divisions between translating and other forms of writing highlights the role of translation in literary production.Key FeaturesThe first monograph on this key contemporary writer that analyses texts from throughout her careerA series of analyses of Davis's major translations and how her work interacts with themA rethinking of the role of translation in literary production and the boundaries between translating and writing

The first extensive analysis of the translation, publication and critical reception of Alexander von Humboldt’s writings in nineteenth-century BritainAlexander von Humboldt was one of the most important scientists of the nineteenth century. Captivating his readers with his vibrant, lyrical prose, he transformed understandings of the earth and space by rethinking nature as the interconnection of global forces. This book argues that style was key to the success of these translations and shows how Humboldt’s British translators, now largely forgotten figures, were pivotal in moulding his prose and his public persona as they reconfigured his works for readers in Britain and beyond.Key FeaturesPrompts a rethinking of the role of translation in mediating scientific knowledgeReconsiders how translators shape a scientist’s international reputationDraws on extensive archival material in neglected publishers’ archives to shed new light on how authors, their translators and their publishers collaborate

The first extensive analysis of the translation, publication and critical reception of Alexander von Humboldt’s writings in nineteenth-century BritainAlexander von Humboldt was one of the most important scientists of the nineteenth century. Captivating his readers with his vibrant, lyrical prose, he transformed understandings of the earth and space by rethinking nature as the interconnection of global forces. This book argues that style was key to the success of these translations and shows how Humboldt’s British translators, now largely forgotten figures, were pivotal in moulding his prose and his public persona as they reconfigured his works for readers in Britain and beyond.Key FeaturesPrompts a rethinking of the role of translation in mediating scientific knowledgeReconsiders how translators shape a scientist’s international reputationDraws on extensive archival material in neglected publishers’ archives to shed new light on how authors, their translators and their publishers collaborate

This book considers the writers who translated Virgil into English during the English civil wars, the Interregnum and the early years of the Stuart Restoration (c. 1636–c. 1661). It argues that these writers translated Virgil in order to display and interrogate their political loyalties, articulate personal responses to past traumas and express their hopes for the country’s future. All of Virgil’s English translators in this period were in some way associated with the royalist cause, but the political elements of their respective translations demonstrate that royalism itself was not a monolithic political standpoint and instead encompassed a wide variety of opinions regarding the policy of individual monarchs and the institution of monarchy.