An Introduction to Modernist Non-Translation

This first essay in the volume constitutes a substantial and wide-ranging introduction to this neglected topic, establishing the importance of untranslated fragments in modernist writing. The chapter expounds the complexities of the term ‘non-translation’, differentiating the practice from multilingualism, reading it alongside modern translation theory and practice. It situates modernist non-translation among a number of crucial contexts in intellectual history and literary theory: the ‘linguistic turn’ explored by contemporary philosophers, linguists, literary theorists, and critics; and examines broader sociopolitical issues relating to nationalism and language, the rise of English as an (imperial) global language, and the standardization of English. This introduction foregrounds key hermeneutical difficulties surrounding untranslatability and concerning reading or interpreting modernist non-translation, thus preparing the ground for the following chapters.