This volume is a selection of papers presented at the international conference on Translation and Censorship. From the 18th Century to the Present Day, held in Lisbon in November 2006. Although censorship in Spain under Franco dictatorship has already been thoroughly studied, the Portuguese situation under Salazar and Caetano has been, so far, almost ignored by the academic research. This is then an attempt to start filling this gap. At the same time, new case studies about the Spanish context are presented, thus contributing to a critical view of two Iberian dictatorial regimes. However other geographical and time contexts are also included: former dictatorships such as Brazil and Communist Czechoslovakia; present day countries with very strict censoring apparatus such as China, or more subtle censorial mechanisms as Turkey and Ukraine. Specific situations of past centuries are given some attention: the reception of Ovid in Portugal, the translation of English narrative fiction into Spanish in the 18th century, the translation of children literature in Victorian England and the emergence of the picaresque novel in Portugal in the 19th century. Other forms of censorship, namely self-censorship, are studied in this volume as well. The book fits in one of the most innovative fields of research in translation studies, i.e. the study of social and political constraints on translation processes and translation functions. More specifically, the concept of censorship is crucial to the understanding of these constraints, especially in spatio-temporal settings where translation exhibits conflicts between what is acceptable for and what is prohibited by a given culture. For that reason, detailed descriptive research is needed in as many situations as possible. It gives an excellent view on the complex mechanisms of censorship with regard to translation within a large number of modern European and non European cultures. In addition to articles devoted to cases dealing with China, Brazil, Great-Britain, Turkey, Ukraine or Czechoslovakia, Spain and Portugal occupy a prominent role. As a whole, the volume marks an important step forward in our growing understanding of the role of socio-political factors for the development and changes of translation policies. I highly recommend the publication. Prof. dr. Lieven D'hulst, Professor of Translation Studies at K.U.Leuven (Belgium).
About the Author: Teresa Seruya Full professor in the Department of Germanic Studies at the Arts Faculty of the University of Lisbon, teaching literature and culture in the German language. She also teaches History of Translation and Translation Theory. She works with the Catholic University of Portugal, as head of a research project on Literary History and Translations (1998-2005). Her main research area in the present is the history of translation in Portugal in the 20th century, leading another research project on Intercultural Literature in Portugal 1930-2000: a Critical Bibliography. She has published on literature and culture in the German language, particularly from the 20th century, the history of Germanic Studies in Portugal and the history of translation in Portugal. She has organized four national conferences on Translation Studies in Portugal and two international EST (European Society for Translation Studies) conferences since 1998. She is a literary translator of the following German authors: Goethe, Kleist, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Doblin and Thomas Mann. Maria Lin Moniz Teacher of English and German at Escola Secundaria de Palmela (Secondary School) with a post-graduation course of Translation - English and German (1990-1992). She was a member of the research team working on Literary History and Translations, led by Prof. Seruya (1998-2005). PhD in Translation Studies (2006). Title of thesis: On the narratives of World War I in Portuguese translations. She was a member of the organising committee of the international conference on Translation and Censorship - from the 18th Century to the Present Day, Lisbon, 27-28 November 2006. She is currently working on Translation and Censorship in Portugal as a member of the research team supervised by Prof. Seruya. Ongoing project: Intercultural Literature in Portugal 1930-2000: a Critical Bibliography. She translated Kafka (Brief an den Vater) and Thomas Mann (some short stories) into Portuguese.