LINGUIST List 13.2651

Wed Oct 16 2002

Books: Translation: DeLater

Editor for this issue: Marisa Ferrara <marisalinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. StJerome, Translation Theory in the Age of Louis XIV

			


Title: Translation Theory in the Age of Louis XIV
Subtitle: The 1683 De optimo genere interpretandi (On the best kind of
 translating) of Pierre-Daniel Huet (1630-1721)
			
Publication Year: 2002
Publisher: St. Jerome Publishing Ltd. 
 http://www.stjerome.co.uk/
 
Editor: James Albert DeLater 
Translator: James Albert DeLater 
				
Hardback: ISBN: 190065055X, Pages: 260, Price: �45.00/$72.00
			
Abstract:

Introduction, English Translation, Notes and Commentaries, and
Translation Text James Albert DeLater

Preeminent in a relatively rare category of separate early modern
treatises on translation, the 1683 De optimo genere interpretandi by
the polymath cleric Pierre-Daniel Huet (1630-1721) offers a concise
introduction to its nature, history, theory, process and practice.

Written in the form of a Ciceronian dialogue, On the best kind of
translating not only represents Huet's acute and witty defence of the
often disparaged literal or word for word model, but also provides
illuminating glimpses into the critical and interpretive methods of
his age. A guiding premise of this first modern edition and annotated
translation of Huet's entire treatise is that, now as then,
translation theory and practice are complementaries. Consistent also
with this premise is the conscious attempt by DeLater to apply Huet's
literal translation model at every stage in the process of producing
this annotated translation of his treatise. Among the topics treated
in Huet's work are: (1) a definition of translation and its
relationship to interpretation; (2) adaptation of translation aims and
methods to the subject matter of the original; (3) the translating and
glossing of idioms, proverbs, metaphors, puns and ambiguities; (4)
translators' priorities, from sense and words to the elusive quality
that makes a translation seem an original work; and (5) translation as
an independent theoretical discipline. In addition to providing an
introduction to Huet's life and works as well as explanatory glosses
for his copious sources and various topics in the DOGI, the present
work also supplies links between Huet's work and that of current
theorists and critics in the field of translation studies.

James Albert DeLater received a PhD from the University of Washington
(1997), where he studied English, comparative literature and
translation. He has worked as a technical and medical translator, and
taught at Portland State University, Oregon, and Saint Paul's College,
Virginia. He currently teaches at Hillsdale College, Michigan.

Lingfield(s): Translation
			 
Subject Language(s): English (Language code: ENG)

Written In: English (Language Code: ENG)