A Cultural History of Translation
By (Author) Dr Lieven Dhulst
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Bloomsbury Academic
27th November 2025
United Kingdom
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Translation and interpretation
Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics
Contains 6 hardbacks
How has our relationship with translation changed for different cultures over the centuries What effect has it had on politics, art and religion
In a work that spans 2,500 years these ambitious questions are addressed by 143 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. With the help of a broad range of case material they illustrate broad trends and nuances of the culture of translation in Western culture from antiquity to the present. Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six.
The 6 volumes cover: 1. Classical Societies (500 BCE to 500 CE); 2. Postclassical Era (600 to 1100); 3. Age of Cross-Cultural Interaction (1100 to 1600); 4. Construction of the Global World (1600 to 1800); 5. Emergence of the Modern World (1800 to 1900); 6. Modern and Contemporary World (1900 to the present).
Themes (and chapter titles) are: translators; global views; geographies; knowledges; literature; other cultural practices; sciences; media and intermediality.
The page extent for the pack is approximately 1700pp. Each volume opens with notes on contributors and an introduction and concludes with notes, bibliography, and an index.
The Cultural Histories Series
A Cultural History of Translation is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available both as printed hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a one-off purchase and tangible reference for their shelves, or as part of a fully searchable digital library available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access. See www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com for further information or to access content.
A Cultural History of Translation offers a capacious and vivid introduction to translation treated in its own right. Moreover, it highlights the pervasiveness of translational practices in human history and opens up the disciplinary and theoretical treatment of translation beyond its linguistic and textual dimensions. * Thibaut dHubert, Associate Professor, The University of Chicago, USA *
Lieven Dhulst is Professor of Translation Studies and Francophone Literature and Head of the Research Group Translation and Intercultural Transfer at KU Leuven, Belgium.