Translation, Politics and Society – serie

A Translational Sociology provides an interdisciplinary investigation of the key role of translation in society. There is a growing recognition of translation’s intervention in the intellectual history of sociology, in the international reception of social theory, and in approaches to the global literary and academic fields. This book brings attention to aspects of translation that have remained more elusive to sociological interpretation and analysis, investigating translation’s ubiquitous presence in the everyday lives of ordinary people in increasingly multilingual societies and its key intervention in mediating politics within and beyond the nation.In order to challenge a reductive view of translation as a relatively straightforward process of word substitution that is still prevalent in the social sciences, this book proposes and develops a broader definition of translation as a social relation across linguistic difference, a process of transformation that leaves neither its agent nor its object unchanged. The book offers elaborations of the social, cultural and political implications of such an approach, as a broad focus on these various perspectives and their interrelations is needed for a fuller understanding of translation’s significance in the contemporary world.This is key reading for advanced students and researchers of translation studies, social theory, cultural sociology and political sociology.

A Translational Sociology provides an interdisciplinary investigation of the key role of translation in society. There is a growing recognition of translation’s intervention in the intellectual history of sociology, in the international reception of social theory, and in approaches to the global literary and academic fields. This book brings attention to aspects of translation that have remained more elusive to sociological interpretation and analysis, investigating translation’s ubiquitous presence in the everyday lives of ordinary people in increasingly multilingual societies and its key intervention in mediating politics within and beyond the nation.In order to challenge a reductive view of translation as a relatively straightforward process of word substitution that is still prevalent in the social sciences, this book proposes and develops a broader definition of translation as a social relation across linguistic difference, a process of transformation that leaves neither its agent nor its object unchanged. The book offers elaborations of the social, cultural and political implications of such an approach, as a broad focus on these various perspectives and their interrelations is needed for a fuller understanding of translation’s significance in the contemporary world.This is key reading for advanced students and researchers of translation studies, social theory, cultural sociology and political sociology.

Translation and Decolonisation: Interdisciplinary Approaches offers compelling explorations of the pivotal role that translation plays in the complex and necessarily incomplete process of decolonisation. In a world where translation has historically been a tool of empire and colonisation, this collection shines the spotlight on the potential for translation to be a driving force in decolonial resistance. The book bridges the divide between translation studies and the decolonial turn in the social sciences and humanities, revealing the ways in which translation can challenge colonial imaginaries, institutions, and practice, and how translation opens up South-to-South conversations. It brings together scholars from diverse disciplines and fields, including sociology, literature, languages, migration, politics, anthropology, and more, offering interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives. By examining both the theoretical and practical aspects of this intersection, the chapters of this agenda-setting collection explore the impact of translation on decolonisation and highlight the need to decolonise translation studies itself. The book illuminates the transformative power of translation in transcending linguistic, cultural, and political boundaries.

Translation and Decolonisation: Interdisciplinary Approaches offers compelling explorations of the pivotal role that translation plays in the complex and necessarily incomplete process of decolonisation. In a world where translation has historically been a tool of empire and colonisation, this collection shines the spotlight on the potential for translation to be a driving force in decolonial resistance. The book bridges the divide between translation studies and the decolonial turn in the social sciences and humanities, revealing the ways in which translation can challenge colonial imaginaries, institutions, and practice, and how translation opens up South-to-South conversations. It brings together scholars from diverse disciplines and fields, including sociology, literature, languages, migration, politics, anthropology, and more, offering interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives. By examining both the theoretical and practical aspects of this intersection, the chapters of this agenda-setting collection explore the impact of translation on decolonisation and highlight the need to decolonise translation studies itself. The book illuminates the transformative power of translation in transcending linguistic, cultural, and political boundaries.

Omid Tofighian has been engaged in collaborative philosophical, artistic and political work with displaced, exiled and incarcerated peoples for 25 years. These interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations include co-authoring different genres of writing in English; co-creation and translation into English; and shared intellectual and artistic projects. The most notable example is his translation and collaboration in Behrouz Boochani’s award winning book No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison (2018).Creating New Languages of Resistance is an intellectual and personal reflection on creative resistance; it addresses critical issues pertaining to epistemic injustice, kyriarchy and border violence. Incorporating scholarship, different literary genres, exclusive interviews, media articles and notes on translation, this rigorous and accessible study examines the ‘shared philosophical activity’ Tofighian participates in with different collaborators. It suggests experimental and collaborative ways for producing and analysing similar texts and cultural productions; creates new spaces and frameworks for thinking about displacement and exile; and raises compelling questions and issues for people interested in researching and working to end border violence, bordering and intersectional discrimination.Presenting a special rationale and philosophical vision about collaboration and co-creation in extreme situations, this is key reading for students, scholars and general readers interested in critical and cultural border studies, translation studies, public philosophy, literatures of resistance, coloniality and decoloniality, identity and positionality.

Omid Tofighian has been engaged in collaborative philosophical, artistic and political work with displaced, exiled and incarcerated peoples for 25 years. These interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations include co-authoring different genres of writing in English; co-creation and translation into English; and shared intellectual and artistic projects. The most notable example is his translation and collaboration in Behrouz Boochani’s award winning book No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison (2018).Creating New Languages of Resistance is an intellectual and personal reflection on creative resistance; it addresses critical issues pertaining to epistemic injustice, kyriarchy and border violence. Incorporating scholarship, different literary genres, exclusive interviews, media articles and notes on translation, this rigorous and accessible study examines the ‘shared philosophical activity’ Tofighian participates in with different collaborators. It suggests experimental and collaborative ways for producing and analysing similar texts and cultural productions; creates new spaces and frameworks for thinking about displacement and exile; and raises compelling questions and issues for people interested in researching and working to end border violence, bordering and intersectional discrimination.Presenting a special rationale and philosophical vision about collaboration and co-creation in extreme situations, this is key reading for students, scholars and general readers interested in critical and cultural border studies, translation studies, public philosophy, literatures of resistance, coloniality and decoloniality, identity and positionality.

Migration Literature in Translation explores the unique case of Latinx literature translated into Spanish, drawing from Latinx studies, sociology, political philosophy and cultural studies. The book focuses on works by Helena María Viramontes, Achy Obejas, Daisy Hernández and Junot Díaz, analysing migration literature and translation as a social practice. Cussel introduces the ‘integrated translation critique’, a new methodology that examines the transformation of texts through translation and their reception, while incorporating empirical social research methods. This innovative approach highlights the roles of various actors—scholars, translators, authors, reviewers, and readers— in shaping Latinx literary texts’ mobility and meaning across languages and cultures.Through qualitative research including focus groups, questionnaires and fieldwork in Europe, Latin America and the US, Cussel sheds light on how transnational readers engage with translated migrant stories. By addressing the cultural, social and political dimensions of translation, this interdisciplinary work offers a sociological perspective on literary translation. It is essential reading for scholars and students in the sociology of translation, Latinx and migration literature, and migration studies.