Women writers and the fictionalisation of the classics. (3rd July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gentzler, Edwin
• Is Part Of: Translator. Volume 25:Number 3(2019)
• Page Start: 269
• Page End: 281
• Publication Date: 2019-07-03
• Subjects: Translation -- post-translation -- fiction -- rewriting -- women -- fictionalisation -- classics; Translating and interpreting -- Periodicals; Intercultural communication -- Periodicals; Traduction -- Périodiques; Communication interculturelle -- Périodiques; Intercultural communication; Translating and interpreting; Periodicals; 418.02
• DOI: 10.1080/13556509.2019.1680075
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-0409

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Translation studies scholars have traditionally studied texts that are called translations in the receiving cultures. But in the age of mass media, blogs, online journals, reader reviews, and fan fiction, the latest generation has taken translation to a new stage. Linguistic accuracy, once the primary criterion for analysis, recedes in importance; creativity and innovation are valued, and social and political factors move to the fore. This paper discusses the gender politics of such a movement. In my book Translation and Rewriting in the Age of Post-Translation Studies (2017), I looked at film, theatre, and music adaptations, focusing on how rewritings can effect social change. This essay turns to the fictionalisation of classical texts by contemporary women writers, including Margaret Atwood, Pat Barker, and Madeline Miller. I suggest that translation scholars be open to new forms being introduced by such women writers and focus on more social arena where political change is already underway.