Translating War: Literature and Memory in France and Britain from the 1940s to the 1960s (Palgrave Studies in Languages at War)

This book examines the role played by the international circulation of literature in constructing cultural memories of the Second World War. War writing has rarely been read from the point of view of translation even though war is by definition a multilingual event, and knowledge of the Second World War and the Holocaust is mediated through translated texts. Here, the author opens up this field of research through analysis of several important works of French war fiction and their English translations. The book examines the wartime publishing structures which facilitated literary exchanges across national borders, the strategies adopted by translators of war fiction, the relationships between translated war fiction and dominant national memories of the war, and questions of multilingualism in war writing. In doing so, it sheds new light on the political and ethical questions that arise when the trauma of war is represented in fiction and through translation. This engaging work will appeal to students and scholars of translation, cultural memory, war fiction and Holocaust writing.-- Provided by publisher This book examines the role played by the international circulation of literature in constructing cultural memories of the Second World War. War writing has rarely been read from the point of view of translation even though war is by definition a multilingual event, and knowledge of the Second World War and the Holocaust is mediated through translated texts. Here, the author opens up this field of research through analysis of several important works of French war fiction and their English translations. The book examines the wartime publishing structures which facilitated literary exchanges across national borders, the strategies adopted by translators of war fiction, the relationships between translated war fiction and dominant national memories of the war, and questions of multilingualism in war writing. In doing so, it sheds new light on the politicacl and ethical questions that arise when the trauma of war is represented in fiction and throuch translation. This engaging work will appeal to students and scholars of translation, cultural memory, war fiction and Holocaust writing--back cover Front Matter ....Pages i-xii Introduction (Angela Kershaw)....Pages 1-28 Zones of Hospitality (Angela Kershaw)....Pages 29-65 Translating the French Resistance in London and New York (Angela Kershaw)....Pages 67-117 The War Novel in the Post-War Years in France and Britain: Comparative Perspectives (Angela Kershaw)....Pages 119-164 The Goncourt Prize and the Second World War in France and Britain, 1945–51 (Angela Kershaw)....Pages 165-214 Layers of Translation: Multilingualism in War and Holocaust Fiction (Angela Kershaw)....Pages 215-266 Conclusion (Angela Kershaw)....Pages 267-277 Back Matter ....Pages 279-293