Susan Bassnett
Encyclopedia
Susan Bassnett is a translation theorist and scholar of comparative literature
. She served as pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Warwick
for ten years and taught in its Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies, which closed in 2009. Educated around Europe, she began her career in Italy and has lectured at universities in the United States prior to the University of Warwick. In 2007, Bassnett was elected a Fellow at the Royal Society of Literature
. She is currently professor of comparative literature at the University of Warwick.
Notable Works
Among her more than twenty books, several have become mainstays in the field of literary criticism, especially Translation Studies (1980) and Comparative Literature (1993). A book on Ted Hughes
was published in 2009. Another interesting book edited by Bassnett is Knives and Angels: Women Writers in Latin America. Bassnett's collaboration with several intellectuals in a series of book projects have been received well. In 2006, she co-edited with Peter Bush the book The Translator as Writer. In addition to her scholarly works, Bassnett writes poetry which was published as Exchanging Lives: Poems and Translations (2002).
In her 1998 work Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation (written with André Lefevere
), Bassnett states that "the shift of emphasis from original to translation is reflected in discussions on the visibility of the translator. Lawrence Venuti
calls for a translator-centered translation, insisting that the translator should inscribe him/herself visibly into the text".
Comparative Literature as a literary strategy
In a 2006 essay titled Reflections on Comparative Literature in the Twenty-First Century, she engaged with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
who argues in Death of a Discipline (2003) that the field of comparative literature must move beyond its eurocentrism if it is to stay relevant. While she agrees with Spivak that eurocentrism has marginalised literatures from the non-West, she also argues that Spivak's argument puts comparatists from Europe, who are familiar with its literatures, in a precarious position. To Bassnett, the way out for European comparatists is to critically investigate their past. Bassnett also recanted her previous stance that comparative literature is a dying subject that will slowly be replaced by translation studies. Rather, she argues that comparative literature and translation theory continue to be relevant today if taken as modes of reading that literary critics can use to approach texts.
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
. She served as pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
for ten years and taught in its Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies, which closed in 2009. Educated around Europe, she began her career in Italy and has lectured at universities in the United States prior to the University of Warwick. In 2007, Bassnett was elected a Fellow at the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
. She is currently professor of comparative literature at the University of Warwick.
Notable Works
Among her more than twenty books, several have become mainstays in the field of literary criticism, especially Translation Studies (1980) and Comparative Literature (1993). A book on Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
was published in 2009. Another interesting book edited by Bassnett is Knives and Angels: Women Writers in Latin America. Bassnett's collaboration with several intellectuals in a series of book projects have been received well. In 2006, she co-edited with Peter Bush the book The Translator as Writer. In addition to her scholarly works, Bassnett writes poetry which was published as Exchanging Lives: Poems and Translations (2002).
Critical Ideas
Foregrounding translationIn her 1998 work Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation (written with André Lefevere
Andre Lefevere
André Alphons Lefevere was one of the most important translation theorists of the second half of the twentieth century. He had studied at the University of Ghent and then obtained his PhD at the University of Essex in 1972...
), Bassnett states that "the shift of emphasis from original to translation is reflected in discussions on the visibility of the translator. Lawrence Venuti
Lawrence Venuti
Lawrence Venuti , American translation theorist, translation historian and translator from Italian, French, and Catalan.-Career:...
calls for a translator-centered translation, insisting that the translator should inscribe him/herself visibly into the text".
Comparative Literature as a literary strategy
In a 2006 essay titled Reflections on Comparative Literature in the Twenty-First Century, she engaged with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is an Indian literary critic, theorist and a University Professor at Columbia University. She is best known for the essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?", considered a founding text of postcolonialism, and for her translation of Jacques Derrida's Of Grammatology. She...
who argues in Death of a Discipline (2003) that the field of comparative literature must move beyond its eurocentrism if it is to stay relevant. While she agrees with Spivak that eurocentrism has marginalised literatures from the non-West, she also argues that Spivak's argument puts comparatists from Europe, who are familiar with its literatures, in a precarious position. To Bassnett, the way out for European comparatists is to critically investigate their past. Bassnett also recanted her previous stance that comparative literature is a dying subject that will slowly be replaced by translation studies. Rather, she argues that comparative literature and translation theory continue to be relevant today if taken as modes of reading that literary critics can use to approach texts.