Women and Early Modern Cultures of Translation Beyond the Female Tradition

Women and Early Modern Cultures of Translation: Beyond the Female Tradition is a major new intervention in research on early modern translation and will be an essential point of reference for anyone interested in the history of women translators. Research on women translators has often focused on early modern England; the example of early modern England has been taken as the norm for the rest of the continent and has shaped research on gender and translation more generally. This book brings a new European perspective to the field by introducing the case of Germany. It draws attention to forty women who can be identified as translators in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Germany and shows how their work does not fit easily into traditional narratives about marginalization and subversiveness. The study uses the example of Germany to argue against reading the work of translating women primarily through the lens of gender and to challenge claims about the existence of a female translation tradition which transcends the boundaries of time and place.

Broadening our perspective to include Germany provides a more nuanced and informed account of the position of women within European translation cultures and forces us to rethink gender as a category of analysis in translation history. The book makes the case for a new 'woman-interrogated' approach to translation history (to borrow a concept from Carol Maier) and as such it will provide a blueprint for future work in the area.

Hilary Brown, Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies, University of Birmingham

Hilary Brown is Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies at the University of Birmingham. Prior to joining the University of Birmingham, she was Lecturer in German at Swansea University (2005-2011). Dr Brown has published widely on the cultural history of translation in the period 1500-1800, including
a monograph on the neglected translations of Germany's first prominent woman of letters, Luise Gottsched the Translator (Camden House, 2012). This current book project on Women and Early Modern Cultures of Translation was funded by a Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers from the Alexander
von Humboldt Foundation.