Translation and Literature in East Asia

Through specialist case studies from pre-modern China and Japan as well as contemporary Korea, the authors are able to make a number of highly original claims that not only finely nuance some conceptual dichotomies in literary translation (e.g. visibility vs. invisibility, domestication vs. foreignization), but also modify and challenge our conventional (and predominantly Western?) assumption of literary translation as primarily a one-directional and single modal exercise of meaning conveyance. Importantly, a good amount of the material in the book stresses the mode- or medium-sensitive interaction and translation among East Asian languages (e.g. varied presentation format that blurs the boundary between translation and commentary, creole-like co-appearance of logographs and phonetic script). This volume stands thus as an exemplary addition to the promising new book series 'Routledge Studies in East Asian Translation', of which two of the co-authors now serve as the editors.

-- Shuangyi Li 李双翼 (2021) Book review: Translation and Literature in East Asia: Between Visibility and Invisibility, Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies, DOI: 10.1080/23306343.2021.1877959