WEMSK40:Translation

                                                        Translation

1. Finding an English Translation of a Medieval Work:

a. Clarissa P. Farrar and Austin P. Evans, Bibliography of English
Translations from Medieval Sources.  Columbia University Records of
Civilization, 39 (NY: Columbia UP, 1946).

b. Mary Anne Heyward Ferguson, Bibliography of English Translations
from Medieval Sources.  Columbia University Records of
Civilization, 88 (NY: Columbia UP, 1974).

c. The Literatures of the World in English Translation.  A
Bibliography.  A series of books by Frederick Ungar Publishing Co.,
New York:  I: The Greek and Latin Literatures, ed. George B. Parks
and Ruth Z. Temple (includes Byzantine, Medieval Latin, and even
Neo-Latin). II: The Slavic Literatures, compiled by Richard C.
Lewanski, assisted by Lucia G. Lewanski and Maya Deriugin.  III:
The Romance Literatures, ed. by George B. Parks and Ruth Z. Temple.
IV: The Celtic, Germanic, and Other Literatures of Europe.  V: The
Literatures of Asia and Africa.  I have not seen the last two.

d.  Once you have looked through these, you can bring them up to
date with: Index translationum, International Bibliography of
Translation (Paris: UNESCO, 1948-).  This has been cumulated for
English from vols. 1-21: Index translationum.  Cumulative index to
English translations, 1948-1968, 2 vols. (Boston: G. K. Hall,
1973).  Suggestion as to research strategy:  Go first to
Farrar and Evans, then to Ferguson, then to Index Translationum.
The Index translationum is now also available on CD-ROM from The
Stationery Office Electronic Publishing.

e. The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation, ed. Peter
France (Oxford: OUP, 2000). In two parts: I. Theory and History,
with an extensive bibliography, pp. 116-126; II. Translated
Literature: African Languages, Arabic, The Bible, Celtic Languages,
Central and East European Languages, East Asian Languages, French,
German, Greek, Hebrew and Yiddish, Hispanic Languages, Indian
Languages, Italian, Latin, Northern European Languages (includes
Old English), Russian, West Asian Languages. Coverage is good, but
not so extensive as in 1-4.

                       Translation Theory

[There are hundreds of books on translation theory; I will mention
only a few:]

1. A nice survey, with short quotations, is that by Bayard Q.
Morgan, "Bibliography -- 46 BC - 1958," in Reuben A. Brower, On
Translation (Cambridge: Harvard, 1959), 271-293.

2. For a general study of theory, you cannot beat: Eugene A. Nida,
Toward a Science of Translating (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1964). I was
a student of his, but he still cites me as Joseph Marchand.
 

3. See also: Georges Mounin, Les problemes theoriques de la
traduction (Paris: Gallimard, 1963; repr. 1980).

4. For bibliography:

a. Hugh Olmsted, Translations and Translating. A Selected
Bibliography of Bibliographies, Indexes, and Guides. Center for
Translation and Intercultural Communication. Department of
Comparative Literature. State University of New York at Binghamton,
1975. A small pamphlet, but good to page through.

b. International Bibliography of Translation, ed. Henry Van Hoof.
Handbuch der internationalen Dokumentation und Information, vol. 11
(Pullach bei Muenchen: Verlag Dokumentation, 1973). Text
(instructions and such) in German, French, English.  A quite
extensive bibliography.

c. Karl-Richard Bausch, The Science of Translation: An Analytical
Bibliography.  Tuebinger Beitraege zur Linguistik 21, 33
(Tuebingen: Spangenbert, 1970-).

5. Medieval Translation Theory:

a. F[lora] R[oss] Amos, Early Theories of Translation (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1920. An old standby, still worth
reading through.

b. William Arrowsmith, "Jerome on Translation: A Breviary." Arion
N.S. 2 (1975): 358-67.

c. Georges Cuendet, "Ciceron et Saint Jerome traducteurs."  Revue
des Etudes Latines 11 (1933): 380-400.

d. Roger Ellis, ed.  The Medieval Translator.  The Theory and
Practice of Translation in the Middle Ages (Cambridge: Brewer,
1989). "Papers read at a conference held 20-23 August 1987 at
the University of Wales Conference Center, Gregynog Hall."

The Medieval Translator 4, ed. Roger Ellis & Ruth Evans. Medieval
and Renaissance Texts & Studies (Binghamton, 1994).  A collection
of articles.

The Medieval Translator. Traduire au Moyen Age, vol. 5, ed Roger
Ellis and Rene Tixier (Tournhout: Brepols, 1996). "Proceedings of
the international conference of Conques (26-29 July 1993)."

e. Michael Metlen, "Letter of St. Jerome to the Gothic Clergymen
Sunnia and Frithila Concerning Places in Their Copy of the  Psalter
which had been corrupted from the Septuagint."  JEGP   36 (1937):
515-542. A translation of one of the most extensive treatises on
translation from the Middle Ages.

f. Michael Metlen, "A Natural Translation of the Praefatio attached
to the `Codex Brixianus'."  JEGP 37 (1938): 355-366. An important,
often overlooked, work on translation theory from the Middle Ages.

g. Hans Joachim Stoerig, ed., Das Problem des Uebersetzens.  Wege
der  Forschung, 2d ed. Wege der Forschung 8 (Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1973). An excellent collection
of statements by authorities, beginning with Jerome's letter to
Pamachius and ending with Tony Oettinger on machine translation.

g.1. Another good sourcebook: Translation / History / Culture, a
Sourcebook, ed. Andre Lefevere (London: Routledge, 1992). An
international reader with translations of the non-English texts.

h. Donald R. Sunnen, "Medieval Translation as "certamen":  The
Germanic Versions of `Yvain, le Chevalier au Lion'. Dissertation,
University of Illinois, 1990. Good survey of problems.

i. Henri Van Hoof, Histoire de la traduction en Occident. France,
Grande-Bretagne, Allemagne, Russie, Pays-Bas. Bibliotheque de
Linguistique (Paris: Duculot, 1991).  Expanded version of his
Petite histoire de la traduction en Occident (Louvain la Neuve,
1986).

j. Hans J. Vermeer, Skizzen zu einer Geschichte der Translation, 2
vols. thw vol. 6 (Frankfurt: IKO, 1992). The title offers you a new
German word, as does the discussion which follows. A long
bibliography comes at the end of vol. 2, 279-364. Citations are
usually translated.

k. Not much on the Middle Ages in j, but he continues in: Hans. J.
Vermeer, Das Uebersetzen im Mittelalter (13. und 14. Jahrhundert),
3 vols. Reihe Wissenschaft, Bd. 4 (Heidelberg: TexTconTexT, 1996).
Vol. 3 is mostly bibliography. It actually begins before the 13th
Century.

l. Joern Albrecht, Literarische Uebersetzung: Geschichte, Theorie,
kulturelle Wirkung (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft,
1998).  Good bibliography.

6. Some journals:

American Translators Association Series. Binghamton, 1987-.

Approaches to Translation Studies. Amsterdam.

Babel: Revue Internationale de la Traduction. Sint Amandsberg,
Belgium, 1955-.

International Journal of Translation. Delhi, 1989-.

Lebende Sprache. Berlin, 1956-.

Meta: Journal des Traducteurs. Montreal, 1955-.

Notes on Translation, Dallas, 1962-. Particularly good on theory
and Bible translation.

Target. International Journal of Translation Studies. Tel Aviv,
1989-.

Translation and Literature. Edinburgh, 1992-. A very useful
journal.

Translation Review. Dallas, 1978-.

Translation. New York, Columbia, 1972-.

TTR: Traduction, Terminologie, Redactions: Etudes sur le Texte et
ses Transformations. Montreal, 1988-.

Some Internet Resources
 

TRANSLATIONS OF MUSLIM SCIENTIFIC BOOKS INTO LATIN AND OTHER EUROPEAN LANGUAGES

THE PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF ANCIENT SCIENCE IN  WESTERN CHRISTENDOM BETWEEN A.D. 500 AND A.D. 1300
 Early Greek and Latin Sources
 Arabic Sources from c. 1000
 Greek Sources from c. 1100+