The Experimental Translator

“Translation has rarely been this irreverent, and even more rarely been this much fun. In a deft interweaving of complex notions articulated with great clarity, and wonderfully fluid storytelling, Robinson took me on one of the most delightful, translationally geeky romps of my research career. But this is serious fun. Using practice-based research translation techniques that prey and play on texts, Robinson gives us deep readings of important literary texts, known and unknown, while blowing the lid off of contemporary Western culture’s most deeply held presuppositions about what a translation is supposed to be and do, opening to new worlds of potential.”

—Lily Robert-Foley, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, France


“This is a thoroughly engaging book that makes a compelling argument for experimentalism in translation. It is written with masterly command of the topic, both in terms of theory and practice, and displays the highest level of scholarship. It is arefreshingly innovative contribution to the current field of translation studies and fills a gap in the scholarship regarding the recognition of experimental translation as a subject of scholarly study in its own right.”


—Alexandra Lukes, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

This book celebrates experimental translation, taking a series of exploratory looks at the hypercyborg translator, the collage translator, the smuggler translator, and the heteronymous translator. 


The idea isn’t to legislate traditional translations out of existence, or to “win” some kind of literary competition with the source text, but an exuberant participation in literary creativity. Turns out there are other things you can do with a great written work, and there is considerable pleasure to be had from both the doing and the reading of such things.


This book will be of interest to literary translation studies researchers, as well as scholars and practitioners ofexperimental creative writing and avant-garde art, postgraduate translation students and professional (literary) translators.

Douglas Robinson is Professor of Translation Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.