Prof. Martin Revermann: "Translators' Prefaces"

The Boston University Department of Classical Studies would like to invite you to our next lecture in the Study Group On Religion and Myth in the Ancient World lecture series. Professor Martin Revermann (The University of Toronto) will be presenting "Translators' Prefaces." When: Thursday, October 4th Where: Boston University School of Theology Building, Room 409/Arrowsmith Library 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 Time: 4:00-6:00pm Sponsored by the Boston University Center for the Humanities, the Department of Classical Studies, and the Study Group on Religion & Myth in the Ancient World. This lecture is free and open to the public, so please pass this information to anyone who may be interested. For more information on this lecture or on the Study Group, please visit our website http://www.bu.edu/classics/lectures-conferences/religion-and-myth/ For advance readings please email Jeff Henderson (jhenders@bu.edu). A primer from Professor Revermann: "Translation prefaces are sites of unusual visibility for the translator. They offer multiple opportunities for reflection, self-presentation, explanation and establishing an engaging rapport with the prospective reader. Based on a typology of prefaces I will, drawing broadly from a range of periods, explore common prefatorial strategies and their significance not only for the specific translations themselves but for the shifting roles, real and perceived, of translation in the understanding of Greco-Roman antiquity more generally. "Texts I would like to discuss are the Preface to Juvencus, Dryden's Preface to 'Ovid's Epistles' (1680) and Emily Wilson's 'Translator's Note' from her 2018 Odyssey translation, all of which you will find attached to this e-mail. I have also attached Benjamin's 'The Task of the Translator' from 1923: it is not central to my argument, but I will talk about it a little bit. It is one of those texts that everyone quotes but few people actually read, so I thought adding it might be a good idea."