Do translation theorists observe what translators do and develop theories based on that? Do translators gain ideas and tools from studying theories? Or does it go both ways? Or is it neither, and translation scholars are completely separated from practising translators? 

B. J. Woodstein’s Translation Theory for the Practicing Literary Translator (Anthem Press, 2024) is an eclectic discussion of a handful of translation theories and their potential impact on literary translation practitioners. It explores a range of theoretical ideas, mostly from literary studies or translation studies, but with clear links to other fields, such as cultural studies and philosophy. 

In this episode, Ibrahim Fawzy and B.J. Woodstein talk everything translation. They discuss fidelity, equivalence, distance, and (in)visibility, identity, power, ethics, and more. 

Ibrahim Fawzy is a literary translator and academic based in Egypt. His interests include translation studies, Arabic literature, ecocriticism, and disability studies.

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