Translation Studies before ‘Translation Studies’ challenges the established historical narratives of ‘translation studies’ by showcasing some of the rich traditions of debate, research and theorising that happened around the world in the centuries prior to the supposed beginnings of the discipline. The volume includes selected extracts by scholars and translators from the ‘nothing happened’ period. Beginning in Ancient Rome, the volume moves through Medieval China and India, Early Modern Europe, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Europe, Africa, the Arab World and South America, before concluding with twentieth-century extracts from China, Brazil, Russia, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Ukraine and Poland.
The extracts are accompanied by essays that explore the ideas in the context of their time and link to the concepts of post-1972 translation studies. All of the extracts were originally written in languages other than English and most make their debut here in English translation, amplifying the accessibility and significance of these previously overlooked contributions.