Professional Translators in Nineteenth-Century France
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:26th Dec '24
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This book shines a light on the practices and professional identities of translators in nineteenth-century France, speaking to the translatorial turn in translation studies which spotlights translators as active agents in the international circulation of texts.
The volume charts the sociocultural, legal, and economic developments which paved the way for the development of the professional translation industry in France in the period following the French Revolution through to the First World War. Drawing on archival material from French publishers, institutional archives, and translators’ own discourses, and applying historiographical methodologies, Pickford explores the working conditions of professional translators during this time and the subsequent professional identities which emerged from the collective practice of translation across publishing, business, and government. In its diachronic approach to translators’ practices and identities, the book aims to recover the collective contributions of these translators and, in turn, paves the way for a new approach to “translator history from below”.
The volume will appeal to students and scholars in translation studies, particularly those with an interest in literary translation, translation history, and translator practices.
"This is a brilliant historical study of the often-overlooked category of professional translators. It skillfully and rigorously weaves together insights from sociology, book history, and translator studies into a compelling narrative that will become a landmark in the history of professional translation, extending far beyond the French context."
- Lieven D'Hulst, University KU Leuven, Belgium
"This beautifully researched and extensively referenced book underlines the Paris-centric nature of the French publishing industry... the fascinating accounts of the lives of individual translators, collectives and agencies and the revelations about rates, working conditions and quality control, will surely resonate with today's professional translators."
- Dr. Amanda Haste, The Linguist magazine's winter 2025 issue
"With an impressive amount and variety of archival, bibliographical and textual data, Susan Pickford tackles the wide gamut of translation as work, as self-image, as creation, as economic enterprise, in 19th century France. Superbly contextualised – both within France and within the broader cultural frameworks of translating and multilingualism as well as cultural economics – the book offers a brilliant and unparalleled inside view of an emerging profession, weaving together past and present."
-Outi Paloposki, Professor of translation at the University of Turku, Finland.
ISBN: 9781032001791
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 594g
228 pages