Translation Scandal
Translation Scandal
This is "A Scandal in Translation" (2022) by Lawrence Venuti, a leading expert in translation studies.
Why is translation scandalous? Because it exposes the inequalities that pervade the world's cultures, politics, and economies.
The author of this book, Lawrence Venuti, is one of the leading experts in translation studies.
Venuti says the current state of translation is a scandal.
Businesses, governments, religious organizations, publishing companies and more now cannot function without translation.
But it is for this reason that focusing on translations exposes the imbalances they implicitly rely on.
The Bible, the poetry of Homer, the arguments of Plato, the theories of Wittgenstein, novels from Japan and West Africa, advertising, business journalism...
Complex and delicate issues are explored through case studies from a variety of fields.
This book advocates "alienation" translation that listens to the voices of minorities and defends diversity, in opposition to the "assimilation" pressure that panders to mainstream values. It is a must-read for living in a globalized age.
The Quran, which is a Muslim religion, prohibits translation of Arabic as the scriptures of God, and encourages people to read the original text as is. However, any language other than one's native language is basically filtered by translations made by oneself or others. And reading a translation entrusted to someone else will be biased to some degree. This book makes you reconsider the filter of translation, which is something that is surprisingly often overlooked. (Ammel)