The role of translations and anthologies in literary history

A project under Dr Odber de Baubeta’s supervision will focus on aspects of translation studies and/or anthology studies within the context of Anglo-Portuguese literary historiography and relations, although this could be extended to include case studies from the Brazilian cultural context. Translations may examined as single artefacts, worthy of study in their own right either because of their literary quality, the problem-solving strategies that have been applied to the task of translation the range of critical theories that may be used to explain the translation process. Likewise, the study of anthologies of poems or short stories has much to tell us about the way tastes are shaped, and canons are constructed. Translations, and translation anthologies, can make a significant contribution to intercultural relations, but are by no means as innocent as they appear, namely because of the selection criteria employed – what to include and what to exclude – as well as the possibility of manipulation, as discussed by Hemans and Lefevere. Although scholars have begun to explore these areas (see much work remains to be done on the subject, as the author of the chapter on “Anthologies and translation” in John Benjamins, 2013, has pointed out. Such research might focus on questions of canonicity, identity formation, reception theory, adopting a sociolinguistic, critical discourse analysis or cultural studies approach.

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