Cover not available

Article published In: Babel
Vol. 71:3 (2025) ► pp.354–376

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Exploring Sherry Simon’s views on translation through a postmodern lens

ORCiD logo with link | Allameh Tabataba’i University
Published online: 17 December 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.24111.par
Abstract
The present study takes a postmodern approach to Sherry Simon’s views on translation, aiming to uncover the extent to which her ideas in translation studies align with postmodern thought. To this end, the works of prominent postmodern thinkers including Lyotard, Baudrillard, Derrida, Cixous, Deleuze, Guattari, and Irigaray are examined. Their postmodern claims are listed and described as scenarios. Then, Simon’s views are compared with these scenarios in quest of commonalities. The results indicate that Simon’s views on gender are indeed postmodern. Her rejection of the conventional definition of fidelity reflects a postmodern stance as it rejects rigid binary opposites. Similarly, her rejection of hierarchical structures aligns with postmodern principles. Furthermore, her advocacy for dismantling absolutes in polarity can also be considered postmodern. Finally, her view on handling texts in translation to foreground female subjectivity qualifies as a postmodern approach.
Résumé
La présente étude adopte une approche postmoderne des perspectives de Sherry Simon sur la traduction, visant à déterminer dans quelle mesure ses idées en études de traduction s’alignent avec la pensée postmoderne. À cette fin, les œuvres de penseurs postmodernes de renom, notamment Lyotard, Baudrillard, Derrida, Cixous, Deleuze et Guattari, ainsi qu’Irigaray, sont examinées, et leurs revendications postmodernes sont répertoriées et décrites comme des scénarios postmodernes. Les vues de Simon sont ensuite comparées à ces scénarios postmodernes à la recherche de similitudes. Les résultats indiquent que les perspectives de Simon sur le genre sont postmodernes. Son rejet de la définition conventionnelle de la fidélité reflète une position postmoderne en rejetant les oppositions binaires rigides. De même, son refus des structures hiérarchiques s’accorde avec les principes postmodernes. En outre, son plaidoyer pour le démantèlement des absolus de polarité peut également être perçu comme postmoderne. Enfin, sa conception de la manipulation des textes pour mettre en avant la subjectivité féminine dans la traduction s’inscrit dans une approche postmoderne.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Postmodernism
  • Translation and postmodernism
  • Methodology
  • Simon’s views through the postmodern lens
    • Gender in translation
      • Analysis
    • Inferior position of women and translation
      • Analysis
    • Why women choose to translate
      • Analysis
    • Sexist language
      • Analysis
    • Fidelity
      • Analysis
    • Agency
      • Analysis
    • Translation and postcolonialism
      • Analysis
    • Translation in Dual Cities
      • Analysis
  • Conclusion
  • References
References (50)
References
Abooee, Fateme, and Nezamaddin Moeinzadeh. 2021. “Postmodernism and Translation: Analyzing the Translation of Postmodernism Fictional Text.” Journal of Language and Translation 11 (5): 67–90.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bandia, Paul F. 2006. “The Impact of Postmodern Discourse on the History of Translation.” In Charting the Future of Translation History, edited by Georges L. Bastin and Paul F. Bandia, 45–58. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barsky, Robert. 2001. “Postmodernity.” In Encyclopedia of Postmodernism, edited by Victor E. Taylor and Charles E. Winquist, 304–308. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baudrillard, Jean. 2004. “Simulacra and Simulations.” In Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed., edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, 365–377. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Behnam, Biook, Farhad Azimi, and Peyman Hajarizadeh. 2014. “Machine Translation and Skopos Theory: Postmodernist Approach to Interlingual Translation.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research 5 (3): 714–721. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chan, Leo Tak-Hung. 2017. “Imitation as Translation: From Western Theories of Parody to Japanese Postmodern Pastiches.” Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice 25 (2): 214–226. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, Liming. 2019. “Nietzsche as Precursor of Postmodern Translation Studies.” Meta: Translators’ Journal 64 (3): 794–816. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cixous, Helene. 2004. “The Newly Born Woman.” In Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed., edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, 348–354. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Connor, Steven. 2004. The Cambridge Companion to Postmodernism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Deleuze, Gilles. and Felix Guattari. 2004. “A Thousand Plateaus.” In Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed., edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, 378–386. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Derrida, Jacques. 2004. “Of Grammatology.” In Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed., edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, 300–331. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Doxc, Edward. 2011. “Postmodernism is Dead.” Prospect Magazine. 20 July 2011. [URL]
Ebbesen, Jeffrey. 2006. Postmodernism and its Others: The Fiction of Ishmael Reed, Kathy Acker and Don Delillo. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Farahzad, Farzaneh, and Fatemeh Parham. 2014. “Baker’s Narrative Theory Examined in the Postmodern Theory of Lyotard.” Iranian Journal of Translation Studies 12 (46): 28–39.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanson, Steve. 2019. “The Real but Greatly Exaggerated Death of Postmodernism.” Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies 17 (2): 279–314.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Irigaray, Luce. 2004. “The Power of Discourse and the Subordination of the Feminine.” In Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed., edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, 795–798. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jameson, Fredric. 1991. Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Karakoç, Taner, and Nihal Yetkin Karakoç. 2014. “The Role of Postmodern Hybrid Texts in Translation-Oriented Text Analysis (TOTA) Courses in Translation Didactics.” Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences 1411: 70–73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kester, Kevin. 2018. “Postmodernism in Post-Truth Times.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 50 (14): 1330–1331. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khomeriki, Rusudan. 2019. “Problems of Translating Postmodern Texts.” International Humanities Studies 6 (1): 27–38.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klages, Mary. 2006. Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Littau, Karen. 2010. “Translation in the Age of Postmodern Production: From Text to Intertext to Hypertext.” In Critical Readings in Translation Studies, edited by Mona Baker, 435–448. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lyotard, Jean-Francois. 1984. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. “The Postmodern Condition.” In Literary Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed., edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan, 355–364. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Makkos, Anikó and Cyőr Hungary. 2012. “Book Review: Cities in Translation — Intersections of Language and Memory.” Across Languages and Cultures 13 (1): 127–132. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Manion, J. 2001. “Modernism.” In Encyclopedia of Postmodernism, edited by Victor E. Taylor and Charles E. Winquist, 251–252. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, Klaus Peter. 1995. “Transferring Culture in Translations: Modern and Postmodern Options.” TTR 8 (1): 65–83. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Niu, Rongliang. 2017. “A Review on Translation Studies from the Perspective of Post-Modernism Philosophy.” Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research 1241: 686–690. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Olshanskaya, Natalia. 2011. “De-coding Intertextuality in Classic and Postmodern Russian Narratives.” Translation and Interpreting Studies, 6 (1): 87–102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Parham, Fatemeh. 2017. “Visually or Verbally Postmodern? A Study of Translated Picture Books.” Iranian Journal of Translation Studies 15 (59): 75–100.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2019. “Intellectual Property Rights and Audiovisual Products in the Age of Postmodernism.” In Translation Today: Applied Translation Studies in Focus, edited by Michal Organ, 167–173. Berlin: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2024. “Translatability of Postmodern Features: A Study of Donald Barthelme’s Short Stories in Persian Translation.” Translation and Interpreting Research 1 (1): 1–14.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roy, Ronald J. 2013. “Book Review: Cities in Translation — Intersections of Language and Memory.” Urban Studies 50 (5): 1083–1085. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Savadkouhi, Shaghayegh. 2017. “Postmodernism in English Intersemiotic-Intralingual Translation: From Fiction to Movie.” Master’s thesis, Allameh Tabataba’i University.
Sim, Stuart. 2001. The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simon, Sherry, and Loredana Polezzi. 2022. “Translation and the Material Experience of Migration: A Conversation,” Translation and Interpreting Studies 17 (1): 154–167. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simon, Sherry. 1992. “The Language of Cultural Difference: Figures of Alterity in Canadian Translation.” In Rethinking Translation: Discourse, Subjectivity, Ideology, edited by Lawrence Venuti, 159–176. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1996. Gender in Translation: Cultural Identity and the Politics of Transmission. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. “Introduction.” In Changing the Terms: Translating in the Postcolonial Era, edited by Sherry Simon and Paul St-Pierre, 9–30. New Delhi: Orient Longman Private Limited. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002a. “Crossing Town: Montreal in Translation.” In Bilingual Games: Some Literary Investigations, edited by Doris Sommer, 76–86. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002b. “Germaine de Staël and Gayatri Spivak: Culture Brokers.” In Translation and Power, edited by Maria Tymoczko and Edwin Gentzler, 122–140. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. “The Bridge of Reversals: Translation and Cosmopolitanism in Montreal.” International Journal of Francophone Studies 9 (3): 381–394. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012a. Cities in Translation: Intersections of Language and Memory. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012b. “Translating Montreal: The Crosstown Journey in the 1960s.” In Translation Studies Reader, 3rd ed., edited by Lawrence Venuti, 429–450. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2019. Translation Sites: A Field Guide. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2021. “The Translational City.” In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited by Tong King Lee, 15–25. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2023. “Foreword: Thinking Translationally.” In Time, Space, Matter in Translation, edited by Pamela Beattie, Simona Bertacco, and Tatjana Soldat-Jaffe, xii–xv. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Testsova, Olesia, Oksana Dudina, and Iryna Holovko. 2022. “Master Training of Translation Specialists in the Context of the Postmodern Educational Paradigm.” Postmodern Openings 13 (1sup1): 395–411. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue