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benjamins.com>John Benjamins Publishing announces these two new works in Translation Studies: Translation and Interpreting in the 20th Century. Focus on German. WOLFRAM WILSS Benjamins Translation Library 29 US & Canada: 1 55619 713 6 / USD 85.00 (Hardcover) Rest of world; 90 272 1632 0 / NLG 170.00 (Hardcover) This book provides a historical survey of the unfolding of translation and interpreting (language mediation) in the 20th century with special reference to the German-speaking area. It is based first, on extensive archive research in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, second, on a large number of interviews with experts in the field of language mediation, and third, on the author's observations and experiences in the field of translation practice, translation teaching, and translation studies between 1950-1995. A specific feature of the book is the description of the social role of the language mediator through the prisms of communicative targets and technological developments and to determine his function as that of an indispensable bridge-builder between the members of differing linguistic and cultural communities. Historically, it distinguishes between three main phases, the period from 1900 to 1919 with the dominance of French as lingua franca in international communication, the period from 1919 to 1945, which is characterized by English-French bilingualism, and the period from 1945 to approximately 1990 with its massive trend toward multilingualism and the development of language mediation into a "translation industry". The book continues with chapters on the implications of globalization, specialization and automaticization for international communication and it closes with reflections on future prospects for the profession in a knowledge society, both from a practical and a pedagogical viewpoint. Translation and Creation. Readings of Western Literature in Early modern China, 1840-1918. DAVID E. POLLARD (ed.) Benjamins Translation Library 25 US & Canada 1 55619 709 8 / USD 85.00 (Hardcover) Rest of world: 90 272 1628 2 / NLG 170.00 (Hardcover) In the late Qing period, from the Opium War to the 1911 revolution, China absorbed the initial impact of Western arms, manufactures, science and culture, in that order. This volume of essays deals with the reception of Western literature, on the evidence of translations made. Having to overcome Chinese assumptions of cultural superiority, the perception that the West had a literature worth notice grew only gradually. It was not until the very end of the 19th century that a translation of a Western novel (La dame aux cam\233lias) achieved popular acclaim. But this opened the floodgates: in the first decade of the 20th century, more translated fiction was published than original fiction. The core essays in this collection deal with aspects of this influx according to division of territory. Some take key works (e.g. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin Byron's "The Isles of Greece"), some sample genres (science fiction, detective fiction, fables, political novels), the common attention being to the adjustments made by translators to suit the prevailing aesthetic, cultural and social norms, and/or the current needs and preoccupations of the receiving public. A broad overview of translation activities is given in the introduction. To present the subject in its true guise, that of a major cultural shift, supporting papers are included to fill in the background and to describe some of the effects of this foreign invasion on native literature. A rounded picture emerges that will be intelligible to readers who have no specialized knowledge of China. Contributions by: D.E. Pollard; X. Wang; Y. Xiong; T. Tarumoto; Leo T.H. Chan; C.Y. Chu; Lawrence W.C. Wong; Martha Cheung; E. Hung; P.Y. Chen; X.H. Xia; Cecile Sun; J. Yuan; David D.W. Wang. John Benjamins Publishing Co. Offices: Philadelphia Amsterdam: Websites: http://www.benjamins.com http://www.benjamins.nl E-mail: serviceMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
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