The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference - Tapa dura

...".greatly contributes to the understanding of translation in many of its problematic features. This book is an excellent source of information for anyone interested in the practice of translation.." -Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, December 2002 ..."provides an extensive commentary about the practice of translation and its most problematic issues in the English-speaking world. The book's significance to scholars and non-scholars lies in the fact that Venuti is not afraid to criticize academia for marginalizing translation because it does not consider translation to be a legitimate mode of textual transformation.." -Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, December 2002 "The fact is, this was a book that needed to be written...it hits the right target.." -"Classical and Modern Literature "The book is well put together, and the different topics treated in each chapter build on one another to give the reader a better overall picture of the author's thesis. The book's well-defined structure and index make the content available to researchers in related fields as well as to translators. A comprehensive, up-to-date viewpoint on diverse issues related to ethics in translation. Highly recommended for graduate students, faculty and professional translators." -"Choice, 4/99 ..."this book speaks to both scholars and students with its broadly accessible but never simplistic readings. ...a reasonable, deft, and often brilliant treatment of the problematic gender elements of these most masculinist works. ...it makes them more teachable, accomplishing and important aim of her critical practice." -"Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England 1999

Translation is stigmatized as a form of writing, discouraged by copyright law, deprecated by the academy, exploited by publishers and corporations, governments and religious organizations.
Lawrence Venuti exposes what he refers to as the 'scandals of translation' by looking at the relationship between translation and those bodies - corporations, governments, religious organizations, publishers - who need the work of the translator yet marginalize it when it threatens their cultural values.
Venuti illustrates his arguments with a wealth of translations from The Bible, the works of Homer, Plato and Wittgenstein, Japanese and West African novels, advertisements and business journalism.