Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame (Translation Studies)

The status of a text depends entirely upon its instrinsic merits. Or does it? "Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame" argues that rewriting, in its various forms - translation, anthologization, historiography, criticism - is as least as important in establishing the reception and reputation of a work as the actual text itself. Lefevere explores how rewriting manipulates works of literature to ideological and artistic ends. By placing the production of a literature in a new culture or theoretical framework, a rewritten text can be given a new, sometimes subversive, historical or literary status. Lefevere challenges the sacred cows of literature such as "originality", "inspiration" and "aesthetic excellence" by revaluing literature's social and historical import in a post-Marxist context.