Rethinking Medieval Translation. Ethics, Politics, Theory

EMMA CAMPBELL AND ROBERT MILLS, eds., Rethinking Medieval Translation. Ethics, Politics, Theory. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2012. Pp. xii, 292. isbn: 978-1-84384-329-0. «99Theeditors of this volume have gathered twelve contributions on medieval translation with the overall aim of taking the current ideas on medieval translation theory and practice a step further, especially with respect to ethical and political dimensions. In their introduction, they discuss the objectives of the collection, and show the important and necessary interaction between medieval studies and translation studies. As they state, ' [given] the centrality of ethical and political issues both to the medieval notion of translatioana to recent discussions of translations in contemporary translation studies, this is one area where the interface between modern theory and research on medieval translation is-and might continue to be-enormously productive' (2). Especially, the editors draw attention to the importance of the emergence of postcolonial criticism as a specific field of literary and cultural analysis, inspired by the work of Jacques Derrida, Lawrence Venuti and Antoine Berman, and exploring the translator's role with respect to cultural dominance.In other words, the volume wants to examine the ability of translation 'to negotiate cultural and linguistic difference' (4) and to give a more nuanced perspective on the limits but also the possibilities of approaches to medieval translation that explore these issues. The question of difference is tackled in several ways: how must contemporary reflections on ethical and political issues of translation be adapted when applied to medieval translation? How does the concept of relevance in translation work in the light of the medieval translatif) as non-textual, non-linguistic transfer? Related to that are the themes of (in)hospitality, the attitude of the translator toward his sources, and possible conflict situations.After the introduction, which also provides an interesting and useful overview of today's knowledge on medieval translation, making suggestions with respect to possible mutual interests of medieval and modern translation studies, the first four essays all deal with the ethics and politics of translatif) studii. Marilynn Desmond studies the encounters of Leonzio Pilatus (14th c.), who translated Homeric epics from Greek to Latin, with Petrarch and Boccaccio, leading to discussions on issues of language, identity, and difference. Miranda Griffin analyzes the way in which the Ovide moralise translates, but also transforms, Ovid's Metamorphoses. Drawing on Derrida's theory on the limits of translation, the author shows how the translator of the Ovide moralise is 'treading a fine line' (60) with respect to Christian faith and figures of sacred bodies. Translations of Latin histories into Middle French prose, and more specifically ethical aspects in the translation and interpretation of the episode on Lucretia's rape and suicide in Simon de Hesdin's translation of Valerius Maximus, are at the center of Catherine Leglu's essay. …