Susan Edna Bassnett, (born 21 October 1945) is a translation theorist and scholar of

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

. She served as pro-vice-chancellor at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

for ten years and taught in its Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies, which closed in 2009. As of 2016, she is Professor of Comparative Literature at the Universities of Glasgow and Warwick. Educated around Europe, she began her career in Italy and has lectured at universities in the United States. In 2007, she was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

Early life and education

Bassnett was born on 21 October 1945. She studied English and Italian at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, graduating with a

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1968. She studied for a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degree in French at the

University of Lancaster Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

, which she completed in 1975.

Academic career

Bassnett began her academic career as a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

at the University of Rome from 1968 to 1972. She then returned to England was a lecturer at the

from 1972 to 1976. She joined the

as a lecturer in 1976, and established its Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies in 1985. She was promoted to reader in 1989, and appointed Professor of Comparative Literature in 1992. She twice served as the university's pro-vice-chancellor, from 1997 to 2003 and from 2005 to 2009. She retired from Warwick in 2016 and was made

professor emerita ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

. In retirement, she has held the appointment of Professor of Comparative Literature at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

since 2015.

Notable works

Among her more than twenty books, several have become mainstays in the field of literary criticism, especially ''Translation Studies'' (1980) and ''Comparative Literature'' (1993). A book on

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

was published in 2009. Another book edited by Bassnett is ''Knives and Angels: Women Writers in Latin America''. Bassnett's collaboration with several intellectuals in a series of book projects has been received well. In 2006, she co-edited with Peter Bush the book ''The Translator as Writer''. In addition to her scholarly works, Bassnett writes poetry which was published as ''Exchanging Lives: Poems and Translations'' (2002).

Critical ideas

Foregrounding translation

In her 1998 work ''Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation'' (written with André Lefevere), Bassnett states that "the shift of emphasis from original to translation is reflected in discussions on the visibility of the translator. Lawrence Venuti calls for a translator-centered translation, insisting that the translator should inscribe him/herself visibly into the text".

Comparative literature as a literary strategy

In a 2006 essay titled ''Reflections on Comparative Literature in the Twenty-First Century'', she engaged with

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (; born 24 February 1942) is an Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic. She is a University Professor at Columbia University and a founding member of the establishment's Institute for Comparative ...

who argues in ''Death of a Discipline'' (2003) that the field of comparative literature must move beyond its eurocentrism if it is to stay relevant. While she agrees with Spivak that eurocentrism has marginalised literatures from the non-West, she also argues that Spivak's argument puts comparatists from Europe, who are familiar with its literatures, in a precarious position. To Bassnett, the way out for European comparatists is to critically investigate their past. Bassnett also recanted her previous stance that comparative literature is a dying subject that will slowly be replaced by translation studies. Rather, she argues that comparative literature and translation theory continue to be relevant today if taken as modes of reading that literary critics can use to approach texts.

Personal life

Clive Barker, Bassnett's long-term partner and a theatre studies academic at Warwick, died in 2005.Baz Kersha
Obituary: Clive Barker
''The Guardian'', 19 April 2005

References

External links

Biography and Bibliography at the British Arts Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassnett, Susan 1945 births Living people British poets British literary critics British women literary critics British women poets Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature British translation scholars Comparative literature academics Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of Lancaster University Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Academics of Lancaster University Academics of the University of Warwick Academics of the University of Glasgow Translation theorists