Connections between the medieval Cornishman and translator John Trevisa (1342-1402) and Glasney College in Cornwall are explored in this thesis to create a deep map about the figure and the site, articulated in a series of micro-narratives or anecdotae. The research combines book-based strategies and performative encounters with people and places, to build a rich, chorographic survey described in images, sound files, objects and texts. A key research problem – how to express the forensic fingerprint of that which is invisible in the historic record – is described as a poetics of uncertainty, a speculative response to information that teeters on the brink of what can be reliably known. This poetics combines multi-modal writing to communicate events in the life of the research, auto-ethnographically, from the point of view of an artist working in the academy. As such, it makes a pedagogical contribution to reflective writing about creative practice. John Trevisa, in the context of contemporary Cornish culture, is a contested figure because his linguistic innovations, in the course of translating key texts from Latin into the English vernacular, make no obvious contribution to Kernowek (Cornish), which is currently undergoing revival from a position of extinction. However, Glasney College, where Trevisa is likely to have been educated, is generally regarded as the centre for the production of the Ordinalia, a cycle of medieval mystery plays written uniquely in Kernowek. This thesis considers the vocabulary that Trevisa innovated, such as concept, fiction, virtual, as crucial to research writing but calls for a new vocabulary to articulate the feminised, labile research processes that characterise this research. It also uses the site and the figure as templates to articulate wider, contemporary systems under stress socially, culturally and politically.

Translation, the transfer of the written word from one language to another, has a long history, and many important scholars have helped shape its perceptions, accepted processes, and theories. Machine translation, translation by computer software requiring little or no human input, is the latest movement in the translation field, a possible way for the profession to keep abreast of the enormous demand for scientific, business, and technical translations. This study examines MT by placing it in a historical context — first exploring the history of translation and translation theory, then following that explanation with one of machine translation, its problems, and its potential. / Master of Arts

In the existing scholarship on Chinese translation history, the shifting conceptualizations of translation from the 1890s to the 1920s have been presented as a teleological evolution from 'traditional', target-oriented translation norms to 'modern', source-oriented norms. In response to this virtually unchallenged grand narrative, the dissertation presents a more nuanced and complex picture of the changing conceptualizations of translation in China during this period. Using New Historicism to engage with Roland Barthes's theory of intertextuality and Gérard Genette's framework of paratextuality, the study builds an integrated theoretical framework for examining how the conceptual relationships between translating, writing, commenting, and editing (among a variety of other textual activities) changed during this period. Adopting Microhistory principles, the dissertation conducts three case studies of marginalized figures - Zhong Junwen (1865-1908), Zhou Shoujuan (1895-1968), and Wu Mi (1894-1978) - from Chinese translation history: by analyzing their translations and/or writings about translation in a range of textual forms such as translation reviews, prefaces, diaries, and pingdian commentaries, the dissertation reveals how these cultural actors blurred the boundaries between translating, writing, commenting, and editing within China's rapidly evolving publishing context and how their conceptualizations of translation were deeply grounded in the traditional Chinese notions of authorship. The results of the three case studies demonstrate how the conceptual boundaries between various textual activities were in flux during these four decades and that the shifts in the conceptualizations of translation were not a simple, linear development from 'traditional' to 'modern'. Apart from contributing to a better knowledge of Chinese conceptualizations of translation in a key period of Chinese translation history, the dissertation challenges the validity of adopting the theoretical models of intertextuality and paratextuality as universally applicable frameworks in translation studies.

Book series are large and dynamic structures that allow us to reflect on concepts such as systems, rewriting, agency and materiality, while offering rich data to advance the history of translation. This research focuses on an emblematic Mexican paperback series called Sepan Cuantos… (SC, hereafter), initiated in 1959 and still ongoing. My overarching aim was to understand the transformation of translation practices in the series throughout time in view of the context in which it was developed and the agents that were involved in it. The development of SC goes hand in hand with the development of the publishing industry in Mexico. Throughout its lifespan, national book production has greatly expanded, affecting the demands of the market where this series has circulated. Additionally, SC’s history is inscribed in the broader dynamics of the Hispanic publishing industry, where Spain has maintained hegemony over the production of translations, and the language and ideology represented in them. In order to understand how SC related to this context, archaeological work was required. The questions What was translated? By whom? and How were translations presented? guided the analysis. My findings reveal a wide spectrum of approaches to translation in SC. On one side of the spectrum there is the series as a commercial endeavour, unconcerned with producing terse, ad hoc rewritings of foreign literature for a Mexican audience by favouring the repurposing of pre-existing Spanish translations and paratexts. This is translation in the age of mass production. On the other side of the spectrum, there are the sporadic cases of assumed agency, where the limits of the repertoire are challenged and where the opportunity to produce original translations and prefaces is highly exploited. There is no overarching translation policy in SC, and this gives rise to a basic tension between the homogeneity expressed by the series’ format and the heterogeneity of the translation and prefatory practices observed in the volumes. Focused on the disorder hidden behind the uniformity of these books' covers, this thesis explores the transgressive bodies in which translations can reach their readers. Translation in 20th and 21st century Mexico has been thus far studied from the angle of its most dignified and ideologically coherent products and translators. However, the less terse translation practices in SC, a highly heterogeneous product that embodies a lot of discoursive tensions, cannot be overlooked. SC’s impossible combinations reflect how the hybridity that is characteristic of Latin American culture has touched translation too.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The thesis contributes to the theory of translation of comics. In the first part, it outlines the development of both German and Czech comics and defines individual aspects of comics translation, taking into account not only language but also images and typography. Regarding language, the thesis looks specifically at balloons, captions, and other characteristics playing an important role in translation, such as interjections, inscriptions etc. The thesis also addresses the interdependence of language and visual messages in comics, which is the typical source of comic effects. Apart from the requirements on comics translations set within translation studies, the thesis also presents the attitudes of publishers and their editorial practices. Based on questionnaires distributed among publishers, we can conclude that they adopt a comprehensive attitude to translation of comics, not only taking into consideration balloons and captions, but also creating favourable conditions to meet the translation studies requirements. Based on the general findings, the thesis analyzes two translations of German comics into Czech. The analysis of their language aspects employs Katharina Reiß's model, images and typographic aspects are analyzed using Delabastita's model. The analyses show considerable differences in...

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Durch Übersetzung werden philosophische Werke einem Publikum zugänglich gemacht, das zwar ein Interesse an Philosophie besitzt, nicht aber ausreichende Sprachenkenntnis. Mit dieser Minimaldefinition läßt sich die Geschichte der philosophischen Übersetzung von der Antike bis zur Frühen Neuzeit schon in einer ersten Phase charakterisieren, in der das Publikum mit dem Gelehrtenstand identisch war. Griechische, arabische und zuletzt englische und französische Werke wurden ins Lateinische übersetzt, damit Gelehrte in der ganzen Welt sie leichter lesen konnten. Die Übersetzung im Lateinische stellte bis ins 17. Jahrhundert für viele Wissenschaftler den internationalen Diskussionskontext her. Eine zweite Phase kann man daran festmachen, daß das Lateinische sein Kommunikationsprivileg verlor: Seit Herausbildung und Etablierung von nationalen Literaturen, also spätestens seit dem 18. Jahrhundert, waren es nicht mehr nur die Gelehrten, sondern die größere Gruppe der Gebildeten, deren Streben nach Aneignung, Aufnahme und Anverwandlung die Übersetzung ausländischer Denker in die verschiedenenen Landessprachen zum Bedürfnis machte. Die Übersetzung bereicherte die nationalen Diskussionskontexte. Davon noch einmal zu unterscheiden ist in einer dritten Phase die Arbeit an der philosophischen Übersetzung seit dem 19. Jahrhundert, als die Expansion der Buchproduktion sowie bestimmte urheberrechtliche Freistellungen dazu führten, daß philosophische Werke in allen europäischen Sprachen vervielfältigt wurden und eine noch breitere Leserschaft fanden. Die Übersetzung dient nun jedem interessierten Leser schlicht zur umweglosen Kenntnisnahme.

This project engages a cultural studies approach to translation. I investigate different thematic issues, each of which underscores the underpinning force of cultural translation. Chapter 1 serves as a theoretical background to the entire work, in which I review the development of translation studies in the Anglo-American world and attempt to connect it to subject theory, cultural theory, and social critical theory. The main aim is to show how translation constitutes and mediates subject (re)formation and social justice. From the view of translation as constitutive of political and cultural processes, Chapter 2 tells the history of translation in Vietnam while critiquing Homi Bhabha's notions of cultural translation, hybridity, and ambivalence. I argue that the Vietnamese, as historical colonized subjects, have always been hybrid and ambivalent in regard to their language, culture, and identity. The specific acts of translation that the Vietnamese engaged in throughout their history show that Vietnam during French rule was a site of cultural translation in which both the colonized and the colonizer participated in the mediation and negotiation of their identities. Chapter 3 presents a shift in focus, from cultural translation in the colonial context to the postcolonial resignifications of femininity. In a culture of perpetual translation, the Vietnamese woman is constantly resignified to suite emerging political conditions. In this chapter, I examine an array of texts from different genres - poetry, fiction, and film - to criticize Judith Bulter's notion of gender performativity. A feminist politics that aims to counter the regulatory discourse of femininity, I argue, needs to attend to the powerful mechanism of resignification, not as a basis of resistance, but as a form of suppression. The traditional binary of power as essentializing and resistance as de-essentializing does not work in the Vietnamese context. Continuing the line of gender studies, Chapter 4 enunciates a specific strategy for translating Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain into contemporary Vietnamese culture. Based on my cultural analysis of the discursive displacement of translation and homosexuality, I propose to use domesticating translation, against Lawrence Venuti's politics of foreignizing, as a way to counter the displacement and reinstate both homosexuality and translation itself.

La presse coloniale hispano-américaine a joué un rôle significatif dans la propagation d’idées étrangères dans les colonies d’Amérique. Elle est devenue le porte-parole de certaines idéologies, lesquelles se sont renforcées par le biais de la traduction de nouvelles provenant surtout d’Europe et des États-Unis. Notre thèse porte sur les interventions du sujet traducteur dans la Gaceta de Caracas (GdC) du Venezuela. Publié de 1808 à 1822, ce périodique est le plus emblématique de l’époque émancipatrice. Créé pour diffuser des nouvelles et des idées pro-monarchie dans la province vénézuélienne, ce périodique dépasse ses objectifs premiers et témoigne des changements politiques, économiques et sociaux pendant le processus d’indépendance du pays qui, en quatorze ans, connaît successivement des périodes royalistes et des périodes républicaines. Comme les autres périodiques de la Province, la GdC a connu une importante activité traductive par l’emploi de sources étrangères (périodiques publiés en Europe, aux États-Unis et dans les Caraïbes). La traduction dans la GdC fait partie d’un projet politique, raison pour laquelle les traducteurs n’hésitent pas à s’en servir pour communiquer leurs idéaux. La traduction sert toutefois deux projets bien distincts dépendamment de l’étape politique que vit le pays : pendant l’époque royaliste, elle cherche à maintenir le pouvoir de la monarchie espagnole sur la colonie, tandis que durant l’époque patriotique, elle cherche à s’en libérer. Des études précédentes ponctuelles suggèrent que le traducteur de la GdC emploie une stratégie d’appropriation à des fins politiques et intervient délibérément dans le processus de traduction (Bastin, Navarro & Iturriza, 2010; Iturriza, 2011; Navarro, 2008, 2010, 2011). Dans le cadre des études descriptives de la traduction – EDT (Toury, 1995), nous étudions les choix traductionnels des rédacteurs-traducteurs. Plus précisément, nous examinons les raisons, les manifestations et les effets de ces choix afin de déterminer le rôle de la traduction dans le processus indépendantiste au Venezuela. / The Spanish-American colonial press played a significant role in the spread of foreign ideas in the American colonies. This press became the speaker of certain ideologies, which have been strengthened through the translation of news coming mainly from Europe and the United States. Our thesis studies the translator interventions in the Gaceta de Caracas (GdC). Published from 1808 to 1822, this periodical is the most emblematic of the Venezuelan emancipation period. Established to disseminate pro-monarchy news and ideas in the Venezuelan province, the GdC exceeds its primary objectives and witness the political, economic and social changes during the process of independence of the country which, in fourteen years, has successively royalists and republican periods. Like other periodical of the Province, the GdC brings up an important translational activity by the use of foreign sources (periodicals published in Europe, the United States and the Caribbean). Translation in the GdC is part of a political project, and translators do not hesitate to use it to communicate their ideologies. However, the translation serves two distinct projects depending on the political stage of the country: during the royalist period, it seeks to maintain the power of the Spanish monarchy in the colony, while during the patriotic period, it seeks emancipation. Previous studies show that the translator of the GdC employs a strategy of appropriation for political reasons and intervene in the translation process (Bastin, Navarro & Iturriza, 2010; Iturriza, 2011; Navarro, 2008, 2010, 2011). Within the approach of Descriptive Translation Studies - DTS (Toury, 1995), we study the translational editors’ choices. We examine specifically the reasons, the manifestations and the effects of these choices to determine the role of translation in the independence process in Venezuela. / La prensa colonial hispanoamericana jugó un rol significativo en la propagación de ideas extranjeras en las colonias de América y se convirtió en portavoz de ciertas ideologías, las cuales se reforzaron por medio de la traducción de noticias procedentes principalmente de Europa y Estados Unidos. Nuestra tesis trata sobre las intervenciones del sujeto traductor en la Gaceta de Caracas (GdC). Publicado de 1808 a 1822, este periódico venezolano es el más emblemático de la época independentista. Se crea para difundir noticias e ideas a favor de la monarquía, pero pronto sobrepasa estos objetivos para ser testigo de los cambios políticos, económicos y sociales que tuvieron lugar durante el proceso emancipador venezolano que, en catorce años, conoce sucesivamente periodos republicanos y periodos realistas. Como los otros periódicos de la Provincia, la GdC conoció una importante actividad traductiva debido al uso de fuentes extrajeras (periódicos publicados en Europa, Estados Unidos y El Caribe). La traducción en la GdC forma parte de un proyecto político, razón por la cual los traductores no dudan en utilizarla para comunicar sus ideales. Sin embargo, la traducción está a la merced de dos proyectos bien distintos, según la etapa política que vive el país: durante la etapa realista, busca mantener el poder de la monarquía española en la colonia, mientras que durante la época republicana, persigue la liberación del yugo español. Estudios anteriores puntuales sugieren que el traductor de la GdC emplea una estrategia de apropiación con fines políticos e interviene deliberadamente en el proceso de traducción (Bastin, Navarro & Iturriza, 2010; Iturriza, 2011; Navarro, 2008, 2010, 2011). En el marco de los estudios descriptivos de la traducción – EDT (Toury, 1995), estudiamos las decisiones traductivas de estos redactores-traductores. Más específicamente, examinamos las razones, las manifestaciones y los efectos de estas decisiones con el fin de determinar el rol de la traducción en el proceso independentista de Venezuela.