What do you think?
Rate this book
Very Short Introductions #493
Translation A Very Short Introduction
Translation is everywhere and matters to everybody. Translation doesn't only give us foreign news, dubbed films and instructions for using the without it, there would be no world religions, and our literatures, our cultures, and our languages would be unrecognizable.In this Very Short Introduction , Matthew Reynolds gives an authoritative and thought-provoking account of the field, from ancient Akkadian to World English, from St Jerome to Google Translate. He shows how translation determines meaning, how it matters in commerce, empire, conflict and resistance, and why it is fundamental to literature and the arts.ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
36 people are currently reading
413 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 21, 2018
As for the field of translation in academia or daily life, it has presumably been considered as the one reserved for those who know or gain expertise in either their own or foreign languages themselves or ideally both. In other words, whenever any translated language has been rendered into the target one; for instance, from Thai (translated) into English (target), those conversing or literate in English can nearly equally or equally understand the spoken or written Thai. As we can see from this example: a spoken colloquial Thai query is "ไปไหนมา?" /pai nai ma/ Nearly all of my students would translate this as ''Where are you going?" instead of "Where have you been?" because they are primarily confused in terms of its sense for the context behind the Thai query; in fact ไปไหนมา? denotes departure, the place visited but the respondent mistakenly assumes it as arrival, the place to visit; therefore, the first English translated query is an error due to a context misunderstood.
Incidentally, I found this 7-chapter paperback interestingly informative and exploratory due to the author's innumerable examples as well as insightful narratives in relation to some dead/modern languages as we can see its scope as follows: 1) Crossing languages, 2) Definitions, 3) Words, contexts, and purposes, 4) Form, identities, and interpretations, 5) Power, religion, and choice, 6) Words in the world, and 7) Translational literature.
To continue . . .
Incidentally, I found this 7-chapter paperback interestingly informative and exploratory due to the author's innumerable examples as well as insightful narratives in relation to some dead/modern languages as we can see its scope as follows: 1) Crossing languages, 2) Definitions, 3) Words, contexts, and purposes, 4) Form, identities, and interpretations, 5) Power, religion, and choice, 6) Words in the world, and 7) Translational literature.
To continue . . .
September 15, 2023
Bardziej niż wyjaśnienia Matthewa Reynoldsa doceniam przekład Łukasza Boguckiego. To musiało być wyzwanie dla tłumacza. Ale i sama w sobie książka była interesująca. Po prostu miałam wrażenie zbyt dużego chaosu. Może to jedynie kwestia streszczenia obszernego tematu w krótkiej formie? Niewykluczone.
December 11, 2019
I have read a number of the Very Short Introductions series and generally found them to be accessible and stimulating guides to their subjects. This entry in the series fell far short of the standards set by the rest. Its style is almost exclusively anecdotal, with little attempt at abstraction or systematization, leaving the reader without an analytical toolkit to apply to future thinking about translation. In addition, most of the book is occupied with questions of semantics and sociolinguistics, although these terms are never explicitly thematized, and translation theory and translation theorists are mentioned only in passing. In short, the book has little to say about translation and leaves the reader with even less.
August 21, 2024
Language translation is one of those tasks that people take for granted is a straightforward endeavor -- especially in the current era in which computers are starting to do a decent job of it. It turns out that translation isn't at all straightforward, and a number of tradeoffs must be addressed through the act of translating -- e.g. should one try to convey the original author's meaning as closely as possible or should one make the writing as approachable and comprehensible to the readership as possible? This might seem like a false dichotomy, but because languages never map perfectly to each other and reflect differing worldviews, there is always some degree of trade-off necessary.
Reynolds addresses not only cases from literature, but also shows the role that translation (and mistranslation) can play in the legal, political, and business domains as well. I found this book to be interesting and useful in providing food-for-thought on the subject. It is particularly illuminating in its discussion of how translation is changing in an era of AI, and how profound an effect this will have on our future. (e.g. People worry about the death of languages with small followings, but if automated translation becomes cheap and ubiquitous, will the pressure to focus one's efforts on one of the world's major languages remain?)
If you are interested in issues of language translation, this is a fine book with which to begin one's exploration.
Reynolds addresses not only cases from literature, but also shows the role that translation (and mistranslation) can play in the legal, political, and business domains as well. I found this book to be interesting and useful in providing food-for-thought on the subject. It is particularly illuminating in its discussion of how translation is changing in an era of AI, and how profound an effect this will have on our future. (e.g. People worry about the death of languages with small followings, but if automated translation becomes cheap and ubiquitous, will the pressure to focus one's efforts on one of the world's major languages remain?)
If you are interested in issues of language translation, this is a fine book with which to begin one's exploration.
November 12, 2022
I don't read Very Short Introductions cover to cover anymore, but I've read Matthew Reynolds' other work and was recommended this by the phenomenal Robert Douglas-Fairhurst in relation to some work I'm developing on Hong Kong poets. It's stunning. Deftly conceived as well as insightful and provocative.
March 15, 2017
I never knew that Dryden translated Virgil.
April 5, 2018
This slim text provides an excellent overview of the general methodology and theory of translating from one language to another. Contrary to popular assumptions, translating is not merely swapping words for their equivalents in another language. It is much more complex as no two languages are the same in terms of syntax or diction. Reynolds includes many examples of cases when translation has been a difficult matter and led to mishaps especially in international relations and religious texts. One of the key ideas here is that translation is fundamentally intertwined with issues of interpretation. We must consider not only how a translator interprets a source text and how they wish to convey it in the second language, but also how that audience may interpret the finished product. Frequently, controversies arise over how literary works should be translated. Would a “literal” translation be better than one that captures the “spirit” of original? How much of the original can one change? Should one preserve the “foreignness” of the source text? Of course, there is no simple answer as it depends highly on the translator’s style, genre, purpose, and even specific phrases in question.
Overall, this is a fantastic text to learn a little more about something that is so often taken for granted. Hopefully, a reader will gain a more profound appreciation for the challenges and insights of translating. For those interested in the subject, I’d also recommend reading the introduction (approx. 80 pages) in Emily Wilson’s Odyssey translation, which explores many of the same methodological questions.
Overall, this is a fantastic text to learn a little more about something that is so often taken for granted. Hopefully, a reader will gain a more profound appreciation for the challenges and insights of translating. For those interested in the subject, I’d also recommend reading the introduction (approx. 80 pages) in Emily Wilson’s Odyssey translation, which explores many of the same methodological questions.
May 30, 2020
[This is the review of the Japanese translated version of the book... which translation is, sadly, not very good.]
（Bookoffにて表紙が気になったので借りてみた。Very Short Introductionシリーズだとは気づかなかった！）
残念ながら、翻訳に関する本なのに翻訳が読みづらい。元の英文がそのまま見えるような訳で、途中から投げ出したくなるのを我慢し最後まで読んだ。
訳者による前書きと解説は読みやすい日本語だったので、彼の日本語能力の問題ではなさそう。
例え私が訳したとしても、同じような不自然な読みづらい日本語訳になるだろうとは思う。
（そして、ここで「ノンフィクションを日本語らしく訳すにはどうしたらいいのか、そしてそれは可能か」という翻訳の新たな壁に突き当たる）
…正直言うと、この、訳者が訳していない部分が一番興味深くて面白かった。
例えば、「風の谷のナウシカ」の漫画英訳に関して。
私はてっきり、漫画が日本語の時のまま右びらきで、日本語の擬音語/擬態語がそのまま絵になっているのが残っているのは、英訳が追いつかないから（＝漫画翻訳の初期段階）なのかと思っていた。けれど、解説曰く、日本の漫画文化やジブリが広く知れ渡る前に訳された左びらき/全てが英語のものは、「日本の漫画・アニメをグラフィックノベルの下位区分としていた」からで、むしろ私が「手抜きの訳」と思っていたものは、もともとの作品の雰囲気をそのまま残す、原作に忠実な訳なんだと言うことが分かった。
（考えてみれば、最近買った萩尾望都の「ポーの一族」英訳も、右びらきで絵はそのままだった。「ハイル！」と叫んでいる箇所は流石に描き変えられていたけれど）
また、エドガー・アラン・ポーの「アナベル・リイ」の詩の和訳に関しても、1940年の日夏耿之介の難解で耽美な訳と、元の英語の平易な感じの違い（「声の落差」）が、他の日本の作家達に影響を与えたエピソードなども興味深い。
内容としては特に目新しいことはなかった。（Introductionだから当然か）
「翻訳」の定義や歴史、そしてそれぞれのシチュエーションでの例など、短い本なのに盛りだくさんだった。
しかし、訳者も書いているように、この本はもともと英語で書かれ、「翻訳」もto/from英語のものがメイン。なので、英語をちゃんと分かってないと面白さは半減するかも。
ただ、最後の、この一文に翻訳者達の思いが込められている気がする：
翻訳は、差異を橋渡しするだけでなく、その存在をあばき、楽しませもする。そう、バベルは呪いでもあり、祝福でもあったのだ
最後に一つ。
本を作る際は、紙面上の文字の配置にも気を配られる。
けれど、この本はそうでもなかったらしい。
次のページの上部に前のパラグラフの最後の数文字が食い込む、と言うことが何回もあり、「この本をレイアウトするときにもうちょっとどうにか出来なかったの？」と思ってしまった。
例(頁数)：
９：ととった人もいるね。）
10：きなくちゃ意味がない。
91：わざるをえなかったのだ。
92：帝国でもある。
99：い）になっている。
102：りのものだったのだろう。
109：である。
125：スになる）とかは言わない。
138：ベースも管理する。
153：方を教えてくれる。
この薄い本にここまで中途半端なレイアウトが続くと、読みづらい訳と合間って、途中から投げ出したくなってしまった。
特に目新しくない内容＋読みづらい翻訳＋素晴らしい表紙のデザイン＝星３つ。
(…訳者は同じ大学の先輩らしいが、評価に手加減なし。)
（Bookoffにて表紙が気になったので借りてみた。Very Short Introductionシリーズだとは気づかなかった！）
残念ながら、翻訳に関する本なのに翻訳が読みづらい。元の英文がそのまま見えるような訳で、途中から投げ出したくなるのを我慢し最後まで読んだ。
訳者による前書きと解説は読みやすい日本語だったので、彼の日本語能力の問題ではなさそう。
例え私が訳したとしても、同じような不自然な読みづらい日本語訳になるだろうとは思う。
（そして、ここで「ノンフィクションを日本語らしく訳すにはどうしたらいいのか、そしてそれは可能か」という翻訳の新たな壁に突き当たる）
…正直言うと、この、訳者が訳していない部分が一番興味深くて面白かった。
例えば、「風の谷のナウシカ」の漫画英訳に関して。
私はてっきり、漫画が日本語の時のまま右びらきで、日本語の擬音語/擬態語がそのまま絵になっているのが残っているのは、英訳が追いつかないから（＝漫画翻訳の初期段階）なのかと思っていた。けれど、解説曰く、日本の漫画文化やジブリが広く知れ渡る前に訳された左びらき/全てが英語のものは、「日本の漫画・アニメをグラフィックノベルの下位区分としていた」からで、むしろ私が「手抜きの訳」と思っていたものは、もともとの作品の雰囲気をそのまま残す、原作に忠実な訳なんだと言うことが分かった。
（考えてみれば、最近買った萩尾望都の「ポーの一族」英訳も、右びらきで絵はそのままだった。「ハイル！」と叫んでいる箇所は流石に描き変えられていたけれど）
また、エドガー・アラン・ポーの「アナベル・リイ」の詩の和訳に関しても、1940年の日夏耿之介の難解で耽美な訳と、元の英語の平易な感じの違い（「声の落差」）が、他の日本の作家達に影響を与えたエピソードなども興味深い。
内容としては特に目新しいことはなかった。（Introductionだから当然か）
「翻訳」の定義や歴史、そしてそれぞれのシチュエーションでの例など、短い本なのに盛りだくさんだった。
しかし、訳者も書いているように、この本はもともと英語で書かれ、「翻訳」もto/from英語のものがメイン。なので、英語をちゃんと分かってないと面白さは半減するかも。
ただ、最後の、この一文に翻訳者達の思いが込められている気がする：
翻訳は、差異を橋渡しするだけでなく、その存在をあばき、楽しませもする。そう、バベルは呪いでもあり、祝福でもあったのだ
最後に一つ。
本を作る際は、紙面上の文字の配置にも気を配られる。
けれど、この本はそうでもなかったらしい。
次のページの上部に前のパラグラフの最後の数文字が食い込む、と言うことが何回もあり、「この本をレイアウトするときにもうちょっとどうにか出来なかったの？」と思ってしまった。
例(頁数)：
９：ととった人もいるね。）
10：きなくちゃ意味がない。
91：わざるをえなかったのだ。
92：帝国でもある。
99：い）になっている。
102：りのものだったのだろう。
109：である。
125：スになる）とかは言わない。
138：ベースも管理する。
153：方を教えてくれる。
この薄い本にここまで中途半端なレイアウトが続くと、読みづらい訳と合間って、途中から投げ出したくなってしまった。
特に目新しくない内容＋読みづらい翻訳＋素晴らしい表紙のデザイン＝星３つ。
(…訳者は同じ大学の先輩らしいが、評価に手加減なし。)
April 12, 2021
My second "very short introduction" hit the jackpot. Matthew Reynolds offers a great introduction to translation both in terms of quality/relevancy of information, and through a very pleasant style of writing.
Someone that does not know much about the field might think, erroneously, that he is oversimplifying matters, or that it is a nice read, but where are the hard facts, the dates, the academia? Well, he still alludes to them all, only in a very smart way: the most important theories about translation and respective authors are mentioned alright, but they are coated by practical considerations and examples that make it very easy to digest.
His book is up to date too, with references to the "hit authors" of the moment, such as Baker and the theory of equivalence in general.
I whole heartedly recommend this reading to anyone with an interest in translation, or in Humanities in general!
Someone that does not know much about the field might think, erroneously, that he is oversimplifying matters, or that it is a nice read, but where are the hard facts, the dates, the academia? Well, he still alludes to them all, only in a very smart way: the most important theories about translation and respective authors are mentioned alright, but they are coated by practical considerations and examples that make it very easy to digest.
His book is up to date too, with references to the "hit authors" of the moment, such as Baker and the theory of equivalence in general.
I whole heartedly recommend this reading to anyone with an interest in translation, or in Humanities in general!
January 28, 2023
Designed to be brief and a mere introduction, this volume by Reynolds actually spends more time on new ways of thinking about translation than dealing with actual translation theory or method. He invents and explains some potential terms for the field: glocal, translaterature, and tradaption. The volume contains valuable discussions of areas not normally touched upon in standard works: translation involved with news media and translation coupled with dramatic presentations for stage and screen. A good read, for sure, but not deep enough for those interested in how to do translation for journal articles, textbooks, Bible, or histories.
August 21, 2021
I find the subject of translation interesting. The author here is trying to be (mildly) provocative, making suggestions that are probably not the way most people think about this subject.
While the book is subtitled "A Very Short Introduction" it seems reasonably lengthy given the subject. But then I read the Kindle version on my phone.
This is the sort of book where when I read certain parts of it I stopped and thought over what I had read but now I can't remember what those things were. Oh well.
While the book is subtitled "A Very Short Introduction" it seems reasonably lengthy given the subject. But then I read the Kindle version on my phone.
This is the sort of book where when I read certain parts of it I stopped and thought over what I had read but now I can't remember what those things were. Oh well.
June 1, 2021
Good and quick intro. A few references. A better intro is Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything.
April 18, 2020
A very good introduction to all the different aspects of translation. It helped widen the horizon for me.
I particularly liked the concept that how translation functions in both foreignizing and domesticating a text from one language to another.
I particularly liked the concept that how translation functions in both foreignizing and domesticating a text from one language to another.
March 21, 2021
Thorough and coincise
excellent overview to the field of translation in multiple contexts: politics, business, literature, entertainment, and everything in between. This book is a valuable introductory college course in translation.
excellent overview to the field of translation in multiple contexts: politics, business, literature, entertainment, and everything in between. This book is a valuable introductory college course in translation.
September 11, 2022
Read this for a grad school course, but this was an accessible and interesting introduction to translation, with an emphasis on literary translation as well. I think anyone interested in translation could read this and have a good time.
February 7, 2017
A nuanced and suggestive meditation on the art of translation. One of the best games in the VSI series that I have read.
June 9, 2017
A very conscise and entertaining introduction to the workd of translation and some of the most interesting issues that Translation studies and Theorists have been debating for centuries.
May 30, 2018
this was good! good overview, some very insightful and quite lovely lines.
May 14, 2020
Essential reading on what translation means and how it works. Highly recommend.
March 8, 2021
As advertised, a very good, very short introduction to translation practices and theory.
September 26, 2023
A solid introduction through complication of the topic and elaborations on different approaches.
May 29, 2024
An excellent introduction to translation theory and the importance and effects of its practice. Recommended.
September 8, 2025
interesting introduction to my poetry translation class
June 11, 2020
Okay, Matthew Reynolds, you win. I will start working harder on my French again so I can experience a different form of literature.
(FYI, this is by far the easiest to read Very Short Introduction I've come across so far. I really enjoyed it.)
(FYI, this is by far the easiest to read Very Short Introduction I've come across so far. I really enjoyed it.)
April 10, 2017
Reading plans, pshaw!
Every now and again a book turns up in the letter box and I drop what I’m doing and simply sit down and read it. And that’s what happened with Translation, a Very Short Introduction by Matthew Reynolds. It’s a new title in a series called Very Short Introductions and yes, it is very short, only 120 pages not counting the References, Further Reading, Publisher’s acknowledgements and the Index, which takes the book up to 142 pages. I read it in an afternoon.
I was interested in it because the worth of translation per se is a topic that is persistent in the literary world. There are people who loudly scorn translations because they can’t possibly be true to the original, and so they confine themselves with lofty moralising to books in languages that they know. Every now and again there’s a little flurry on Twitter with links to someone or other pontificating about what a distorted experience it is to read in translation, or picking to pieces this translation versus that one and how this is proof that the whole process of translation is a bad idea.
For the opposition there are bloggers like Stu at Winston’s Dad, Tara at Reading@Large (formerly Book Sexy), Jacqui at JacquieWine and plenty of others as well and you will find links to their reviews of books in translations all over this blog. I like to read and review books in translation, because it brings me worlds I cannot otherwise know. I can just about read books in Indonesian and in French, but it is hard work, and I know I’ll never be able to read in all the languages that I’d like to. I can’t imagine life without having read The Great Russians, Zola or Balzac, The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Bible or Thomas Mann, and that’s just to mention ones that come quickly to mind. Orhan Pamuk, Marguerite Duras, Hans Fallada, Irene Nemirovsky, Simone de Beauvoir, Ismail Kadare, Jose Saramago, Herta Muller, Veronique Olmi, Patrick Modiano … once I get started there’s no stopping!
Well, Matthew Reynolds tackles the topic with aplomb. He’s Professor of English and Comparative Criticism at the University of Oxford and his books include The Poetry of Translation: From Chaucer and Petrarch to Homer and Logue (OUP, 2011) and he’s a judge for the annual Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. So we know what ‘side’ he’s on. And a nicely reasoned argument it is too.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/10/22/t...
Every now and again a book turns up in the letter box and I drop what I’m doing and simply sit down and read it. And that’s what happened with Translation, a Very Short Introduction by Matthew Reynolds. It’s a new title in a series called Very Short Introductions and yes, it is very short, only 120 pages not counting the References, Further Reading, Publisher’s acknowledgements and the Index, which takes the book up to 142 pages. I read it in an afternoon.
I was interested in it because the worth of translation per se is a topic that is persistent in the literary world. There are people who loudly scorn translations because they can’t possibly be true to the original, and so they confine themselves with lofty moralising to books in languages that they know. Every now and again there’s a little flurry on Twitter with links to someone or other pontificating about what a distorted experience it is to read in translation, or picking to pieces this translation versus that one and how this is proof that the whole process of translation is a bad idea.
For the opposition there are bloggers like Stu at Winston’s Dad, Tara at Reading@Large (formerly Book Sexy), Jacqui at JacquieWine and plenty of others as well and you will find links to their reviews of books in translations all over this blog. I like to read and review books in translation, because it brings me worlds I cannot otherwise know. I can just about read books in Indonesian and in French, but it is hard work, and I know I’ll never be able to read in all the languages that I’d like to. I can’t imagine life without having read The Great Russians, Zola or Balzac, The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Bible or Thomas Mann, and that’s just to mention ones that come quickly to mind. Orhan Pamuk, Marguerite Duras, Hans Fallada, Irene Nemirovsky, Simone de Beauvoir, Ismail Kadare, Jose Saramago, Herta Muller, Veronique Olmi, Patrick Modiano … once I get started there’s no stopping!
Well, Matthew Reynolds tackles the topic with aplomb. He’s Professor of English and Comparative Criticism at the University of Oxford and his books include The Poetry of Translation: From Chaucer and Petrarch to Homer and Logue (OUP, 2011) and he’s a judge for the annual Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. So we know what ‘side’ he’s on. And a nicely reasoned argument it is too.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/10/22/t...
February 23, 2017
Good discussion of the issues at stake in translation - with, crucially, many interesting examples (without which the broader issues are impossible to understand).
January 21, 2020
Read for uni
A brief and easy (and kinda interesting) introduction to the world of translation.
A brief and easy (and kinda interesting) introduction to the world of translation.
April 24, 2017
A very nice introduction to the ideas used in translation. Reynolds does a great job of explaining that translation involves more than taking a phrase and just changing the words into equivalents in another language. He also has a good number of examples to help explain any of the concepts he wishes to explain. The book also explores what translation can and cannot do with regard to literature (and points out how a national literature is a rather modern development in world history).
If you're curious about what translation is, the various types of translations that are done, and a bit of interesting history about translation, then this is a very nice, clear book with numerous examples.
If you're curious about what translation is, the various types of translations that are done, and a bit of interesting history about translation, then this is a very nice, clear book with numerous examples.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews