Science Fiction in Translation: Perspectives on the Global Theory and Practice of Translation

Abstract

As the title suggests, Science Fiction in Translation (2021) explores the afterlife of several Science Fiction works in Translation from non-Anglophone to Anglophone and vice versa. Edited by Ian Campbell, a well-known scholar in the field of Arabic science fiction, the volume highlights the role of translation in influencing the global popularity of this genre. In the introduction, Campbell argues that since translation is not a transparent process, distortions are an inexorable phenomenon. He contends that the process of translating SF is not merely a matter of finding equivalence between two languages; it also involves “cognitive, linguistic, visual, cultural and ideological phenomena” (3–4). He draws on Lawrence Venuti’s concepts of domestication and foreignness to expound on how the former distorts a common feature of SF, estrangement. He claims that translating SF through a domestication strategy removes or weakens some salient aspects of the text’s original meaning. Consequently, it minimizes the estrangement of the source text, which almost inevitably makes the translation less impactful. Apart from the introduction, this volume comprises 15 essays exploring a wide range of translations from different languages to English and vice versa. These translations include the following: Catalan to English, Russian to English, Swedish to English, French to English, Arabic to English as well as French to English, Spanish to English, and Hungarian to English (in addition to Indian Bengali works, which are yet to be translated to English). The volume is wide in its scope covering many languages and offering interesting perspectives from various countries. This contribution comes as a part of an ongoing book series about Studies in Global Science Fiction, published by Palgrave Macmillan Cham.