In a counter-argument to the invisibility of translators and of women in the history of science, this dissertation asserts the presence and examines the influence of a set of 5 female translators of scientific materials in England from 1650 to 1850. The translators are Aphra Behn, Elizabeth Carter, Mary Somerville, Ada Lovelace, and Elizabeth Sabine. The source languages are French, Italian, and German.
These five portraits (each of which includes biographical information on the translator and source text author, contextual features, and translation samples and commentary) are considered against two main backdrops: first, the image of the "invisible translator" prevalent in modern Anglo-American translation studies, and its superimposition on historical expectations of the translator for the period 1650--1850, and second, the changing face of science in the broad wake of the Scientific Revolution (i.e., the modernization and professionalization of science, the increased use of vernaculars in science communication networks, the rise of (scientific content in) the London periodical industry, topic shifts---from heliocentric cosmology, to applied and industrial processes, to the Earth-based sciences, and language shifts---from Latin to French and English, to German). In addition, two through-running translation phenomena are highlighted and discussed: translation as repatriation, and concurrent translation.
Overall, the dissertation demonstrates that female translators of scientific materials have in fact existed in history, despite modern perception to the contrary, and despite a number of historical disadvantages against their rise to visibility and influence. On these two points, a rise, peak, and fall of translator visibility is seen, especially in line with changing opportunities for learned women, yet the influence of these translators in the dissemination of scientific thought remains clear throughout. Further strengthening these portrait findings, and encouraging future research, is an appendixed set of 20 additional women (translators and authors) in science.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/29111 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Healy, Michele |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 312 p. |
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