The work of translation in the age of digital recreation: a study of translation within the framework of electronic literature

Abstract

This study sets out to scrutinize the possible implications of practicing translation within the framework of literary electronic texts in an attempt to question the binary opposition of original versus translation. By introducing the context, the electronic medium, in which the aforementioned opposition is contextualized, a discussion on the concepts of original and translation from a translation studies perspective is held with a particular focus on deconstruction. To illustrate in what ways the electronic medium challenges the hierarchal opposition of original and translation, an examination of three literary electronic texts, namely Shelly Jackson’s Patchwork Girl, Stuart Moulthrop’s Reagan Library, and John Cayley’s Translation is provided. These texts are employed to exemplify and clarify the argument that is derived from the technical means in which the electronic medium offers for translation practice and the theoretical implications of these.