Mad Woman in the Attic

Literature has always been indebted to translation throughout history; most of the classics have had to be translated from their original language into major European languages. A brief history of the evolution of the translation studies and its theories helps to widen the scope of linguistic studies and exert tremendous influences. The Romans translated the well-known Greek classics, with Cicero and Horace as the first theorists. The Romans permitted the use of new words in translations, because they too aimed at enriching their own literary tradition. They did made a significant distinction between ‘word for word’ translation and ‘sense for sense’ translation. The Bible was translated into vernacular languages in Europe in the sixteenth century. The translators of Bible aimed at both intelligibility and a gratifying style. The renaissance style was that of creative appropriation. Wyatt’s translations of Petrarch’s sonnets have an immediate impact on the readers with a very con...