Cities in Translation

All cities are multilingual, but there are some where language relations have a special importance. These are cities where more than one historically rooted language community lays claim to the territory of the city. This book focuses on four such linguistically divided cities: Calcutta, Trieste, Barcelona, and Montreal.Though living with the ever-present threat of conflict, these cities offer the possibility of creative interaction across competing languages and this book examines the dynamics of translation in its many forms. By focusing on a category of cities which has received little attention, this study contributes to our understanding of the kinds of language relations that sustain the diversity of urban life.Illustrated with photos and maps, Cities in Translation is both an engaging read for a wide-ranging audience and an important text in advancing theory and methodology in translation studies.

‘This is a beautifully written, illuminating and luminous book. Simon journeys through different cities, opening up new vistas from past and present,showing the fundamental importance of languages in shaping cultural, geographical and historical space. I shall never look at a city in the same way again after reading this insightful work.’Susan Bassnett, University of Warwick, UK'As translation studies scholars move from the universal to the particular, from the global to the local, Sherry Simon's Cities in Translation furthers that trend, turning from the nation to the city as a geographic space for investigation. This book will appeal to students of translation first and foremost, but be forewarned that it will challenge traditional definitions and concepts. It will also appeal to literary scholars, social scientists, semioticians, art and architecture historians, urban and community planners, and, especially, literary and cultural studies scholars.'Edwin Gentzler, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Simon, Sherry