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Susan Bassnett and Translation Studies

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Written by Tavleen Kaur
Introduction

Susan Bassnett is a translation theorist and Professor of Comparative Literature in the Center for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Warwick. She also served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University twice. She got elected as a president of the British Contemporary Literature Association in 2016. 
Since childhood, she got herself surrounded by multiple languages. As she was born in England so she started to speak her first language English and then she moved to Denmark where she learned Danish. As a very little girl, she moved to Portugal and learned Portuguese and then Italian. In Italy, she learned languages formerly along with Latin French and some other languages. After her first degree, she got a job in Rome where she got her first translation work. She also did creative writing which she had done in literature and language because she did philology as well as linguistics. She has examined over 40 doctoral theses from more than 16 different countries. She has translated a large variety of texts including technical manuals, legal and medical papers, philosophical papers, novels, shorts stories, poetry from and into Italian, poetry from Spanish, Polish and Latin.

In addition to translation, she has contributed to debates on British cultures, feminism, theatre studies, and poetry. She has published more than twenty books and several have become mainstays in the field of literature especially Translation Studies (In 1980 the first edition was published) and it has nine editions and it has remained in print ever since and has also become internationally renowned. Her Comparative Literature(1993) has also become internationally renowned and has translated into several languages. In 2008, she published a book(Translation and Global News)when she engages directly with the problems of translating news reports for newspapers and the media. Some other renowned textbooks are Reflection on Translation(2011), Translation(2013), Language through Literature(1993) etc.
Her focus was to make it accessible because according to her if theories are too abstract and inaccessible then few people can get access to but probably more important a group of people ends up talking to themselves. She always wanted to talk to a lot of people and it is sure that the book is still selling because it is accessible and comprehensible and telling something important to students and scholars as well. She doesn't believe in using an esoteric language in writing because she thinks that only a small number of people could get access to.
Translation Studies (one of her major works) 
Her book Translation Studies gives an overview of studies in the field of translation. This book delineates key debates of translation theory. Exploring translation as a semiotic and cultural activity and not a linguistic process. According to Susan Bassnett, it is a relatively new field which has received little formal recognition. These books introduce the reader quickly into the scope of depth and complexity caused by the dilemmas of translation. She also discussed the role of translation in history and varying theories on translation, and whether translatability is possible at all or not. The book also examines the ways of translation which are now used as an expanding interdisciplinary activity and analysis into developing areas such as developing technologies and new media forms. The fourth edition of Translation studies displayed the importance of translation across disciplines and is essential reading for students and scholars of translation, literary studies, globalization studies, and ancient and modern languages. She believed while writing, whether anything said or written in one language can easily be transferred into another because different languages represent different worldviews which are not simply just rephrasing but formulating and rethinking. Along with this, accuracy is essential and must also that the text should not break the norms of the target culture.
She believed that Translation Studies is a book which acts as a different kind of translation, where the vast mass of literary linguistic theory and semiotic theory merge into a very accessible language and moreover this book bring more about the cultural turn in translation. She had a view of enlarging the boundaries of translation.
She agreed that translation is a skill and translation of many text types which could be taught and carried out effectively whereas literary texts are not considered as a skill. Here translation is effectively rewriting. According to her,  translation has a dual responsibility: to the original text that the translator is seeking to translate and hence to that author, and to the readership. She firmly believes and thinks much more broadly about the understanding of translation and whether or not a translation always has to have its originality. She was sure about whatever happens in the future, the translation will grow not to diminish in importance.
Conclusion
In her collection, she depicted the importance of culture, history, religion and especially about the complex, multilayered relation among them in a human manner.  Her view on translation enables us to have access to work that we would otherwise never be able to meet and it enables the writing of great figures from the past to survive and to continue reading by later generations. By her writing, she taught us that translation acts as a transaction between texts and cultures. Moreover, taught us that this is a primary duty of the translator is to create a text in the target language that readers should appreciate and at the same time demonstrates respect for the source. The translator needs a close relationship between the theory and the practice of translation. If the translator who makes no attempt to understand the theory that how the translation process is carried out is like the driver who has no idea what makes the car move. So, it is important to approach with close analysis and evaluation when it comes to translation. 
The translation studies can be considered relevant as well as important because it displays the role of the translator in cultural mediation, aware us from the issues in literary translation, provides knowledge of intellectual capital, globalization and risk associated with it, mass media, training and, use of modern technology. Her studies are also important as it offers a fascinating and timely insight into the subject of translation and it represents the unique ability of the translator to look simultaneously in one's own culture. 
Translation Studies is also important as the translation is diverse in many aspects of time such as education, mass communication, science and technology, literature, tourism, religion, and business as well. Translation is not only about the linguistic process, but also make a political and social impact.
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