The Author Strikes Back. The author-translator dialogue as a special kind of paratext

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Abstract

Many internationally published writers supply their translators with additional comments on the work to be translated. The aim of this paper is to study the kind of information that authors choose to convey to their translators, and to reflect on the degree in which, besides conveying factual and lexical information, they are also supplying guidelines for the ‘right’ interpretation and translation of the text. Following Gerard Genette’s notion of paratext (1997 [1987]), the author’s comments and suggestions are defined as important ‘thresholds’ in the work’s way to the reader, ‘thresholds’ that might be seen too as the author’s attempt to counterbalance the threat of losing authorship inherent in the translation process.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTracks and Treks in Translation Studies. : Selected papers from the EST Congress, Leuven 2010
EditorsCatherine Way, Sonia Vandepitte, Reine Meylaerts, Magdalena Bartlomiejczyk
Number of pages20
Place of PublicationAmsterdam
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company
Publication date2013
Pages247-266
ISBN (Print)9789027224590
ISBN (Electronic)9789027271426
Publication statusPublished - 2013

Keywords

  • Faculty of Humanities
  • author-translator dialogue
  • paratext

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