Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Alexander Bubb In brief Date - 24 January 2024 Venue - Room 2.13, Geography Building (Old Infirmary) Speaker - Dr Alexander Bubb (University of Roehampton) Title - Victorian World Literature: Asian Classics Translated for the Popular Audience Chair - Joe Wade Ask us for a link to join the seminar online Abstract by Dr Alexander Bubb My recent book, 'Asian Classics on the Victorian Bookshelf: Flights of Translation', explores popular translations made for the general public in nineteenth-century Britain and America of classic literature from Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese and other major Asian languages. It aims to invert our established understanding of orientalism by showing how texts like the Quran, the Ramayana and the Shahnameh were not appropriated exclusively by a cadre of scholars, who subjected them to Western aesthetic norms and moral standards. In fact, their dissemination in the West was due largely to amateur translators pursuing an incongruous variety of political, religious and commercial goals. I will argue that amateur translators or ‘popularisers’, in spite of their typically limited knowledge of the source-language, often produced versions more respectful of the complexity, cultural difference and fundamental untranslatability of Asian texts than the professional orientalists whose work they were typically adapting. The reception of these texts by contemporary readers, likewise, frequently deviated from interpretive norms, and I propose that this combination of eccentric translators and unorthodox readers triggered ‘flights of translation’ whereby historical individuals can be seen to escape the hegemony of orientalist forms of knowledge. At the very least, we need to recognize that readers seeking to access major works of Asian literature in the later 19th Century were seldom guided toward one ‘standard’, authoritative edition, but usually were obliged to select their preferred translation from a range of variants circulating alongside one another, and produced by different, sometimes competing translators. About the speaker Alex Bubb is Senior Lecturer in English at Roehampton University in London, and his research focuses on translation, migration and multilingualism in the Victorian world. His first book, 'Meeting Without Knowing It: Kipling and Yeats at the Fin de Siècle', came out in 2016. A study of the two poets during their formative years in 1890s London, it won the University English Book Prize and was shortlisted for the ESSE Book Awards. His second book, 'Asian Classics on the Victorian Bookshelf: Flights of Translation', investigates the English popular translations through which texts like the Ramayana, the Analects of Confucius, and the Qur’an were made accessible and disseminated to the nineteenth-century general reading public. It was published by OUP in April 2023. About the seminar series Each semester, we welcome a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present a seminar on their work in translation. Our seminar series is run collaboratively by staff and postgraduate students, enabling our early career researchers to build networks and experience. This semester, the students are Katherine Heller and David Hayes. Entry is free and no booking is required. Everyone is welcome. Ask us for a link to join the seminar online Are you interested in Translation Studies at Edinburgh? Providing excellent teaching and supervision, our postgraduate MSc and PhD programmes are among the UK's most comprehensive and flexible. Our expertise covers a wide range of research areas and many languages, of which you can choose to work with two. Find out more about postgraduate programmes in Translation Studies Jan 24 2024 16.10 - 17.30 Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Alexander Bubb Join us in-person or online for a free hybrid seminar by Dr Alexander Bubb (University of Roehampton) on the issues surrounding translating classic Asian literature for the popular audience. Room 2.13 Geography Building (Old Infirmary) Drummond Street Edinburgh EH8 9XP or online via Collaborate Learn Find the venue Ask us for a link to join the seminar online
Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Alexander Bubb In brief Date - 24 January 2024 Venue - Room 2.13, Geography Building (Old Infirmary) Speaker - Dr Alexander Bubb (University of Roehampton) Title - Victorian World Literature: Asian Classics Translated for the Popular Audience Chair - Joe Wade Ask us for a link to join the seminar online Abstract by Dr Alexander Bubb My recent book, 'Asian Classics on the Victorian Bookshelf: Flights of Translation', explores popular translations made for the general public in nineteenth-century Britain and America of classic literature from Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Chinese and other major Asian languages. It aims to invert our established understanding of orientalism by showing how texts like the Quran, the Ramayana and the Shahnameh were not appropriated exclusively by a cadre of scholars, who subjected them to Western aesthetic norms and moral standards. In fact, their dissemination in the West was due largely to amateur translators pursuing an incongruous variety of political, religious and commercial goals. I will argue that amateur translators or ‘popularisers’, in spite of their typically limited knowledge of the source-language, often produced versions more respectful of the complexity, cultural difference and fundamental untranslatability of Asian texts than the professional orientalists whose work they were typically adapting. The reception of these texts by contemporary readers, likewise, frequently deviated from interpretive norms, and I propose that this combination of eccentric translators and unorthodox readers triggered ‘flights of translation’ whereby historical individuals can be seen to escape the hegemony of orientalist forms of knowledge. At the very least, we need to recognize that readers seeking to access major works of Asian literature in the later 19th Century were seldom guided toward one ‘standard’, authoritative edition, but usually were obliged to select their preferred translation from a range of variants circulating alongside one another, and produced by different, sometimes competing translators. About the speaker Alex Bubb is Senior Lecturer in English at Roehampton University in London, and his research focuses on translation, migration and multilingualism in the Victorian world. His first book, 'Meeting Without Knowing It: Kipling and Yeats at the Fin de Siècle', came out in 2016. A study of the two poets during their formative years in 1890s London, it won the University English Book Prize and was shortlisted for the ESSE Book Awards. His second book, 'Asian Classics on the Victorian Bookshelf: Flights of Translation', investigates the English popular translations through which texts like the Ramayana, the Analects of Confucius, and the Qur’an were made accessible and disseminated to the nineteenth-century general reading public. It was published by OUP in April 2023. About the seminar series Each semester, we welcome a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present a seminar on their work in translation. Our seminar series is run collaboratively by staff and postgraduate students, enabling our early career researchers to build networks and experience. This semester, the students are Katherine Heller and David Hayes. Entry is free and no booking is required. Everyone is welcome. Ask us for a link to join the seminar online Are you interested in Translation Studies at Edinburgh? Providing excellent teaching and supervision, our postgraduate MSc and PhD programmes are among the UK's most comprehensive and flexible. Our expertise covers a wide range of research areas and many languages, of which you can choose to work with two. Find out more about postgraduate programmes in Translation Studies Jan 24 2024 16.10 - 17.30 Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Alexander Bubb Join us in-person or online for a free hybrid seminar by Dr Alexander Bubb (University of Roehampton) on the issues surrounding translating classic Asian literature for the popular audience. Room 2.13 Geography Building (Old Infirmary) Drummond Street Edinburgh EH8 9XP or online via Collaborate Learn Find the venue Ask us for a link to join the seminar online
Jan 24 2024 16.10 - 17.30 Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Alexander Bubb Join us in-person or online for a free hybrid seminar by Dr Alexander Bubb (University of Roehampton) on the issues surrounding translating classic Asian literature for the popular audience.
