Abstract
A comprehensive interdisciplinary volume with thirty-one essays divided into eight parts, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Activism, part of the Routledge Handbooks in Translation and Interpreting Studies series, makes a bold, significant and timely intervention on the relatively under-researched phenomenon of translation activism. With a transnational perspective that covers varied and original case studies from diverse languages, cultures, geographies and time periods, the premise of the handbook centres on the role of translation in inciting change and mediating social injustice. Especially compelling are its focus on minority cultural and linguistic contexts and its emphasis on the potential of translation to give voice to the political struggle of underrepresented communities. The contributions are underpinned by diverse theoretical and applied approaches, grounded in the rigorous application of translation theories as well as in first-hand experience and observation. Topics range from feminist approaches to food, to activist wall art, to legal interpreting and anticolonial translation. There are useful links made between the chapters under the subheading “Related topics”, to be found at the end of each essay, which not only facilitates comparative study and reflection, but also highlights the universality of many of the issues at play.