Translators through History
Revised edition
Editor and directors
Acclaimed, when it first appeared, as a seminal work – a groundbreaking book that was both informative and highly readable – Translators through History is being released in a new edition, substantially revised and expanded by Judith Woodsworth.
Translators have played a key role in intellectual exchange through the ages and across borders. This account of how they have contributed to the development of languages, the emergence of literatures, the dissemination of knowledge and the spread of values tells the story of world culture itself.
Content has been updated, new elements introduced and recent directions in translation scholarship incorporated, providing fresh insights and a more nuanced view of past events. The bibliography contains over 100 new titles and illustrations have been refreshed and enhanced.
An invaluable tool for students, scholars and professionals in the field of translation, the latest version of Translators through History remains a vital resource for researchers in other disciplines and a fascinating read for the wider public.
This title replaces:
Translators through History, Edited and directed by Jean Delisle and Judith Woodsworth (1995)
Translators through History, Edited and directed by Jean Delisle and Judith Woodsworth (1995)
[Benjamins Translation Library, 101] 2012. xxv, 337 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 25 June 2012
Published online on 25 June 2012
© John Benjamins/UNESCO
Table of Contents
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Table of illustrations | p. xi
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Foreword to the second edition | pp. xiii–xviii
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Preface | pp. xix–xxii
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Introduction | pp. xxiii–xxvi
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1. Translators and the invention of alphabets | pp. 3–20
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2. Translators and the development of national languages | pp. 21–60
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3. Translators and the emergence of national literatures | pp. 61–94
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4. Translators and the dissemination of knowledge | pp. 95–126
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5. Translators and the reins of power | pp. 127–152
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6. Translators and the spread of religions | pp. 153–186
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7. Translators and the transmission of cultural values | pp. 187–222
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8. Translators and the production of dictionaries | pp. 223–246
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9. Interpreters and the making of history | pp. 247–284
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Appendix I. Description of illustrations | pp. 285–290
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Appendix II. Contributors, translators and proofreaders | pp. 291–296
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Works cited | pp. 297–322
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Index of names | pp. 323–335
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About the authors | p. 337
“The new edition is a very worthy successor to the first, more beautiful, more complete, more accurate. [...] This book will continue to hold a very important place on my shelf of translation reference volumes.”
Philip Noss, American Bible Society
“The pivotal role of translators is the unifying criterion of Delisle and Woodsworth’s seminal work on translation history: here translators are depicted as bearers of crucial historical developments, iconically represented in every chapter ... Taken together, these pictures build up a larger representation of history, as if in a mosaic, where every single component plays a fundamental role in the definition of the picture as a whole.”
Mirella Agorni, Università degli Studi di Bologna
“Focusing on translators of different nationalities playing various roles in history,
Translators through History
is a ground-breaking and valuable work – a must-read and major reference.”
Lawrence Wang-chi Wong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
“It is one of the most informative books I have ever read; not just informative about translation, but about every aspect of world culture and how it was spread.”
Barbara Wright, (in In Other Words no.8/9, 1997)
“Translation scholars and translation studies are now belatedly discovering the importance of the translator. Translators through History is an enormously valuable contribution towards redressing the balance.”
John Milton, University of São Paulo
“The book as a whole is impressive, useful, and a surprisingly good read.”
Douglas Robinson, Lingnan University
“The original volume responded to the long-standing needs of both practitioners and researchers in the discipline and, in turn, in the two decades that have passed, it has encouraged a new strand of research in Translation Studies that stimulated historiographic and diachronic approaches to investigating translation phenomena. This complex and composite work in scope, ambition, objectives and content, has been given a rejuvenating update, after careful revision of the 1995 book.”
Federico M. Federici, in The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory, Vol. 22:1 (2014)
Cited by (61)
Cited by 61 other publications
Adamowicz-Pośpiech, Agnieszka
2024. Mikrohistoria Bronisława Zielińskiego w polu translatorsko-literackim. Przekładaniec :47 ► pp. 128 ff. 
Liu, Jichao, Chengpan Liu, Buzheng Shan & Ömer S. Ganiyusufoglu
2024. A Computer-Assisted Interpreting System for Multilingual Conferences Based on Automatic Speech Recognition. IEEE Access 12 ► pp. 67498 ff.
Salerno, Natalia Soledad
2024. Excautivos/as hispanocriollos/as y roles de mediación: el caso de las expediciones a Salinas Grandes (1778-1810). Fronteras de la Historia 29:1 ► pp. 242 ff.
Tao, Youlan & Wenlu Li
Topcu, Cemal & Arsun Uras
2024. ARAP DÜNYASI ÇEVİRİ HAREKETİNE SOSYOLOJİK BAKIŞ: BEYTÜL HİKME VE HUNAYN BİN İSHAK. Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi 27:1 ► pp. 28 ff.
Valero-Garcés, Carmen
2024. Aprendizaje horizontal en las relaciones entre militares de las Fuerzas Armadas Españolas e intérpretes en situaciones
de conflicto. Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation / Revista Internacional de Traducción
Öztürkler, Cenan
2024. Eşikteki İmge. Sanat Yazıları :51 ► pp. 322 ff.
ARSLAN, Okan
2023. Diplomatic Interpreting Within the Context of Relevance Theory. Söylem Filoloji Dergisi :Çeviribilim Özel Sayısı ► pp. 559 ff.
Asscher, Omri
2023. The Decline in the Religious Zionist Negation of the Diaspora: A Translation Perspective. Contemporary Jewry 43:1 ► pp. 45 ff.
Baigorri-Jalón, Jesús & Lucía Ruiz Rosendo
2023. Voices from around the world. In Towards an Atlas of the History of Interpreting [Benjamins Translation Library, 159], ► pp. 1 ff.
Footitt, Hilary
2023. Reversing the Gaze. In Afghan Interpreters Through Western Eyes [Palgrave Studies in Languages at War, ], ► pp. 1 ff.
Freeth, Peter Jonathan
Haidar, Cherine & Lucía Ruiz Rosendo
2023. The impressionist tale as a way to negotiate the challenges of ethnography in field missions for international organisations. The Translator 29:2 ► pp. 231 ff.
Savchyn, Valentyna
2023. Resisting Russification in Soviet Ukraine through Literary Translation: The Voice of Mykola Lukash. East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies 10:1 ► pp. 113 ff.
Takeda, Kayoko
2023. Interpreting with “human sympathy”. In Towards an Atlas of the History of Interpreting [Benjamins Translation Library, 159], ► pp. 145 ff.
Tanaka, Miyuki
2023. Oranda-tsūji (Japanese‒Dutch Interpreters) in the Eighteenth Century: The Case of Yoshio Kōzaemon. In Tsūji, Interpreters in and Around Early Modern Japan [Translation History, ], ► pp. 27 ff.
Merkle, Denise
2022. Translation in the First Millennium. In The Cambridge Handbook of Translation, ► pp. 537 ff.
Sobesto, Joanna
2022. Re/Deconstructing voices of (female) translators: The case of Bolesława Kopelówna (1897-1961). STRIDON: Studies in Translation and Interpreting 2:2 ► pp. 75 ff.
Chesterman, Andrew
2021. Translator studies. In Handbook of Translation Studies [Handbook of Translation Studies, 5], ► pp. 241 ff.
Diez, Carmen Quijada
2021. Dissemination of academic medical research through translation throughout history and in the contemporary world. In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Health, ► pp. 45 ff.
Falbo, Caterina
2021. Interprètes, contextes, situations : l’interprétation comme acte politique. TTR : traduction, terminologie, rédaction 34:2 ► pp. 149 ff.
Farhadi, Samaneh
2021. Review of Fomeshi (2019): Persian Whitman: Beyond a Literary Reception. Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation 67:1 ► pp. 118 ff.
Haidar Ahmad, Cherine
2021. United Nations Interpreters in the Arab Spring. In Interpreting Conflict, ► pp. 213 ff.
HATİPOĞLU, Recep
2021. Antik dönemde yapılan çeviri faaliyetleri: Çevirilerin niteliği ve çevirmenlerin konumu üzerine bir inceleme. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi :25 ► pp. 1258 ff.
Zanettin, Federico
2021. News Media Translation,
Лю , Вэньцзя
2021. История подхода к подготовке устных переводчиков в Европе и Америке. ГУМАНИТАРНЫЕ НАУКИ :№06 ► pp. 162 ff.
Rosiers, Alexandra, Koen Plevoets & June Eyckmans
Al-Salman, Saleh M. & Asad Al-Ghalith
2019. Translation as a means of internationalization: the case for world literature. Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies 6:3 ► pp. 189 ff.
Ben-Ari, Nitsa & Shaul Levin
2019. Traditions of translation in Hebrew culture. In A World Atlas of Translation [Benjamins Translation Library, 145], ► pp. 193 ff.
Colombo, Alice
2019. Evangelising 19th-century Italy?: Translation and the transnational migration of cheap Evangelical tracts. The Translator 25:2 ► pp. 159 ff.
Wang, Yanqiang
2019. Introducing interpreting studies. Perspectives 27:1 ► pp. 165 ff.
Woodsworth, Judith Weisz
2019. A Language for Israel: The Role of Translation in Building the Resources of Hebrew. Contemporary Review of the Middle East 6:3-4 ► pp. 224 ff.
Zhao, Yanfei & Huijuan Ma
2019. Mapping translation studies in China based on Holmes/Toury Map. FORUM. Revue internationale d’interprétation et de traduction / International Journal of Interpretation and Translation 17:1 ► pp. 99 ff.
Gambier, Yves
2018. Institutionalization of translation studies. In A History of Modern Translation Knowledge [Benjamins Translation Library, 142], ► pp. 179 ff.
Gu, Chonglong
2018. Towards a Re-Definition of Government Interpreters' Agency Against a Backdrop of Sociopolitical and Cultural Evolution. In Redefining Translation and Interpretation in Cultural Evolution [Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies, ], ► pp. 238 ff.
Halevi-Wise, Yael & Madeleine Gottesman
2018. Hebrew Literature in the ‘World Republic of Letters’. Israel Studies Review 33:2 ► pp. 1 ff.
Khan, Afrinul Haque
2018. Rewriting the “Vanishing Present”. In Redefining Translation and Interpretation in Cultural Evolution [Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies, ], ► pp. 1 ff.
Valdeón, Roberto A.
2018. Comparative history. In A History of Modern Translation Knowledge [Benjamins Translation Library, 142], ► pp. 255 ff.
Valdeón, Roberto A.
2022. Translation before the Christian Era. In The Cambridge Handbook of Translation, ► pp. 521 ff.
Gauthier, Alex
2017. « These foreign c*nts’ve goat trouble wi the Queen’s f*ckin English, ken », ou ré-énoncer la voix scots de Trainspotting au moyen du Québec et de la (socio-)linguistique1. TTR 28:1-2 ► pp. 207 ff.
O’Connor, Anne
2017. Introduction. In Translation and Language in Nineteenth-Century Ireland, ► pp. 1 ff.
Dalfardi, Behnam, Babak Daneshfard & Golnoush Sadat Mahmoudi Nezhad
2016. Johannitius (809–873 AD), a medieval physician, translator and author. Journal of Medical Biography 24:3 ► pp. 328 ff.
Seruya, Teresa
2016. Doing translation history and writing a history of translation: the main issues and some examples concerning Portuguese culture. Journal of World Languages 3:1 ► pp. 5 ff.
McDonough Dolmaya, Julie
McDonough Dolmaya, Julie
2017. Reacting to Translations Past. In Translation and Interpreting Pedagogy in Dialogue with Other Disciplines [Benjamins Current Topics, 90], ► pp. 129 ff.
Isaxanli1, Hamlet
2014. History and Policy of Translating Poetry: Azerbaijan and Its Neighbors. Meta 59:2 ► pp. 310 ff.
Munday, Jeremy
2014. Using primary sources to produce a microhistory of translation and translators: theoretical and methodological concerns. The Translator 20:1 ► pp. 64 ff.
Tyulenev, Sergey
Tyulenev, Sergey
2018. Mediating a Compromise. In Translation in the Public Sphere, ► pp. 47 ff.
Flynn, Peter
2013. Author and translator. In Handbook of Translation Studies [Handbook of Translation Studies, 4], ► pp. 12 ff.
Woodsworth, Judith
2013. Impact of translation. In Handbook of Translation Studies [Handbook of Translation Studies, 4], ► pp. 70 ff.
Woodsworth, Judith
2019. Boucler la boucle : réflexions sur un trajet traductologique en spirale. TTR 30:1-2 ► pp. 39 ff.
Woodsworth, Judith
2020. Writing and translating in the multilingual city. Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies 7:3 ► pp. 255 ff.
Grbić, Nadja & Michaela Wolf
2012. Common grounds in Translation and Interpreting (Studies). In Handbook of Translation Studies [Handbook of Translation Studies, 3], ► pp. 7 ff.
Sapiro, Gisèle
2012. Editorial policy and translation. In Handbook of Translation Studies [Handbook of Translation Studies, 3], ► pp. 32 ff.
Montalt, Vicent
2011. Medical translation and interpreting. In Handbook of Translation Studies [Handbook of Translation Studies, 2], ► pp. 79 ff.
[no author supplied]
2013. Bibliographie. In Le temps des hommes doubles, ► pp. 313 ff.
[no author supplied]
[no author supplied]
[no author supplied]
2014. References. In Translation and the Spanish Empire in the Americas [Benjamins Translation Library, 113], ► pp. 243 ff.
[no author supplied]
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 january 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Subjects
Linguistics
Translation & Interpreting Studies
Main BIC Subject
CFP: Translation & interpretation
Main BISAC Subject
LAN023000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Translating & Interpreting