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The publication of Luise von Flotow's book, only a year after Sherry Simon's Gender in Translation, confirms the leading role Canadians play in feminist translation studies. Part of the Canadian and British series 'Translation Theories Explained,' von Flotow's project is to popularize the achievements of a relatively young discipline situated on the intersection of gender studies and translation studies. She addresses audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, drawing examples mostly from North American and western European sources. Despite the editorial constraints of clarity, von brevity, and accessibility, von Flotow manages to unfold a complex argument about a revolutionary impact of gender on translation practice, history, and theory over the last thirty years.
According to von Flotow, a favourable cultural context for feminist translation was created around the 1970s by the women's movement, which brought gender into academic discussions and redefined language as a powerful political tool. Feminist experimental writing by Helene Cixous, Mary Daly, Nicole Brossard, and Louky Bersianik contributed to politicizing translators and initiated a wave of new translation practices, including...