Towards a Feminist Translator Studies: Intersectional Activism in Translation and Publishing PDF
Preview Towards a Feminist Translator Studies: Intersectional Activism in Translation and Publishing
Towards a Feminist Translator Studies This pioneering work advocates for a shift toward inclusivity in the UK translated literature landscape, investigating and challenging unconscious bias around women in translation and building on existing research highlighting the role of translators as activists and agents and the possibilities for these new theoretical models to contrib- ute to meaningful industry change. The book sets out the context for the new subdiscipline of feminist translator studies, positing this as an essential mechanism to work towards diversity in the translated literature sector of the publishing industry. In a series of five case studies that each exemplify a key component of the feminist translator studies “toolkit”, Vassallo draws on exclusive interviews with a range of activist translators and publishers, setting these in dialogue with contemporary perspectives on feminism and translation to propose a new agent-based model of feminist translation prac- tice. In synthesising these perspectives, Vassallo makes a powerful argument for questioning existing structures in the translated literature publishing system which perpetuate bias and connects these conversations to wider social movements towards promoting demonstrable change in the industry. This book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of translation studies and publishing, as well as for the various agents involved in promoting translated literature in the UK and beyond. Helen Vassallo is Associate Professor of French and Translation at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom). Her primary research interests are in translated lit- erature and feminism, with a focus on contemporary women’s writing and theory. She translates Francophone women’s writing, with a particular focus on North Africa and the Middle East: most recently, she has translated Darina Al Joundi’s The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing (2022) and its sequel Marseillaise My Way (2022). Helen’s translation of selected non-fiction by Prix Goncourt-winning author Leïla Slimani, The Devil Is in the Detail and Other Stories, will be pub- lished in 2023, and she is currently working on a translation of Darina Al Joundi’s Prisoner of the Levant, a fictionalised biography of the pioneering Arab feminist May Ziadeh. Helen is the founder of Translating Women, an industry-facing research project that engages with publishers, translators, and other stakeholders to work against intersectional gender bias in the translated literature sector of the UK publishing industry. She writes regular reviews and opinion pieces for the Translating Women blog, as well as freelance pieces elsewhere, and she tweets about the project at @translatewomen. Routledge Advances in Translation and Interpreting Studies Lifestyle Politics in Translation The Shaping and Re-Shaping of Ideological Discourse By M. Cristina Caimotto and Rachele Raus Reframing Translators, Translators as Reframers Edited by Dominique Faria, Marta Pacheco Pinto, and Joana Moura Transfiction and Bordering Approaches to Theorizing Translation Essays in Dialogue with the Work of Rosemary Arrojo Edited by D.M. Spitzer and Paulo Oliveira Translating Controversial Texts in East Asian Contexts A Methodology for the Translation of ‘Controversy’ Adam Zulawnik Using Technologies for Creative-Text Translation Edited by James Hadley, Kristiina Taivalkoski-Shilov, Carlos da Silva Cardoso Teixeira, and Antonio Toral Relevance Theory in Translation and Interpreting A Cognitive-Pragmatic Approach Fabrizio Gallai Towards a Feminist Translator Studies Intersectional Activism in Translation and Publishing Helen Vassallo The Behavioral Economics of Translation Douglas Robinson For more information about this series, please visit https://www.rout- ledge.com/Routledge-Advances-in-Translation-and-Interpreting-Studies/ book-series/RTS Towards a Feminist Translator Studies Intersectional Activism in Translation and Publishing Helen Vassallo First published 2023 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Taylor & Francis The right of Helen Vassallo to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. ISBN: 978-0-367-46965-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-35640-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-03228-1 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003032281 Typeset in Sabon by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive) For R, R & J Contents Acknowledgements viii Introduction: Towards a feminist translator studies 1 1 Action: Committing to gender activism with And Other Stories 22 2 Representation: Re-negotiating cultural encounters with Charco Press 45 3 Responsibility: Publishing against the “proven formula” with Comma Press 72 4 Risk: Shifting power dynamics with Fitzcarraldo Editions 97 5 Hospitality: Publishing against the mainstream with Tilted Axis Press 120 Conclusion: Publishing beyond bias? From resistance to resilience 146 Index 156 Acknowledgements When I first pitched this book to Routledge in 2019, I could never have imagined that I would be writing the entirety of it under the restrictions caused by a global pandemic. There were times when completing it felt impossible – ludicrous, even. That I have done so is a testament to the support I have received along the way, for which I am immeasurably grateful. First I want to thank the wonderful translators and publishers who agreed to be interviewed for this study, and who gave their time and thoughts so generously. My deepest gratitude to Sophie Hughes, Sawad Hussain, Sophie Lewis, Annie McDermott, Carolina Orloff, Ra Page, Becca Parkinson, Nichola Smalley, Deborah Smith, Jacques Testard, Stefan Tobler, and Zoë Turner. This book quite simply would not have been possible without you. I am grateful to the University of Exeter for granting me two periods of research leave: the first in 2017–2018, when I took the plunge and changed my research direction with the Translating Women project, and the second in 2020–2021, when I wrote the first draft of this book. I am especially indebted to Adam Watt who, first as director of research and then as head of department, recognised the importance of this project and supported me in carving out the time necessary for its development. The team at Routledge has been extremely professional and helpful, and I would especially like to thank Harry Dixon, Helena Parkinson and Elysse Preposi for their support. As well as the translators and publishers who gave me such phenome- nal material for my case studies, there are many people in the publishing industry who have championed or nourished the development of this research; in particular, I extend my thanks to Jen Calleja, Will Forrester, Nicky Harman, Rónán Hession, Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Ann Morgan, Nicci Praça, and Ros Schwartz. Over the years spent building and researching this project, I have con- nected with and been inspired by a number of brilliant colleagues. I owe a debt of gratitude to Chantal Wright, who has been a valuable supporter Acknowledgements ix of this research. I have been privileged to work on several projects with Olga Castro, with whom I organised the inaugural Translating Women conference at the Institute of Modern Languages Research in London in 2019. There I met Margaret Carson, Aviya Kushner, and Corine Tachtiris, whose work has helped shape my approach to this study. My sincerest thanks to you all. There is one person who both directly sparked this project and has been its biggest champion. Richard Mansell is not only a generous and inspiring colleague whose ideas and encouragement led me here but also the best partner with whom to navigate all of life’s adventures. He sup- ported me in innumerable ways while I wrote this book, and if it exists today, it is in large part because of him.
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