Translation and Paratexts

As the ’thresholds’ through which readers and viewers access texts, paratexts have already sparked important scholarship in literary theory, digital studies and media studies. Translation and Paratexts explores the relevance of paratexts for translation studies and provides a framework for further research.

Writing in three parts, Kathryn Batchelor first offers a critical overview of recent scholarship, and in the second part introduces three original case studies to demonstrate the importance of paratextual theory. Batchelor interrogates English versions of Nietzsche, Chinese editions of Western translation theory, and examples of subtitled drama in the UK, beforeconcluding with a final part outlining a theory of paratextuality for translation research, addressing questions of terminology and methodology.

Translation and Paratexts is essential reading for students and researchers in translation studies, interpreting studies and literary translation.

Kathryn Batchelor is Associate Professor of Translation and Francophone Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK. She is the author of Decolonizing Translation (Routledge, 2009) and has co-edited four volumes of essays, including Translating Frantz Fanon Across Continents and Languages (Routledge, 2017) and Intimate Enemies: Translation in Francophone Contexts (Liverpool University Press, 2013).