
Translation, Pornography, Performativity
Experimenting with That Dangerous Supplement
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 20. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
130 pages
978-1-032-98118-5 (ISBN)
Description
Robinson and Sun's book goes in search of the neglected metaphorics of translation in pornography using poststructuralist rethinkings and reframings of porn (and masturbation) from Jacques Derrida to Judith Butler.
In his 1684 "Essay on Translated Verse," the Earl of Roscommon attacked "want of decency" in translation metaphorically by comparing it to picking up prostitutes in the park ("raking the park for stews") instead of hanging out with "troops of faultless nymphs." Sex work, and the graphic representation of sex work that Nathaniel Butler was the first to call "pornography" in print in 1638, is used as a metaphor for non-normative translation, which in Robinson and Sun's hands becomes experimental translation.
En route to that goal, the authors take us through Butler on performativity and resistance, Derrida on supplementarity and iterability, and Haun Saussy's innovative application of Derridean citationality to the use of a target-cultural "sponsor" or "bondsman" for translation. They take detours through Charles Baudelaire's "Une charogne" and J.G. Ballard's "The Drowned Giant."
They deal with the performativity of pornography (and translatography) in Part I, the "unnatural" iterability of masturbation (and translation) in Part II, and experimental translation in Part III.
The theory-littered path this book takes through the metaphorics of translation will be of interest to scholars and students of translation studies, especially experimental translation and translation theory, but also media scholars interested in the philosophical complexities of performativity.
In his 1684 "Essay on Translated Verse," the Earl of Roscommon attacked "want of decency" in translation metaphorically by comparing it to picking up prostitutes in the park ("raking the park for stews") instead of hanging out with "troops of faultless nymphs." Sex work, and the graphic representation of sex work that Nathaniel Butler was the first to call "pornography" in print in 1638, is used as a metaphor for non-normative translation, which in Robinson and Sun's hands becomes experimental translation.
En route to that goal, the authors take us through Butler on performativity and resistance, Derrida on supplementarity and iterability, and Haun Saussy's innovative application of Derridean citationality to the use of a target-cultural "sponsor" or "bondsman" for translation. They take detours through Charles Baudelaire's "Une charogne" and J.G. Ballard's "The Drowned Giant."
They deal with the performativity of pornography (and translatography) in Part I, the "unnatural" iterability of masturbation (and translation) in Part II, and experimental translation in Part III.
The theory-littered path this book takes through the metaphorics of translation will be of interest to scholars and students of translation studies, especially experimental translation and translation theory, but also media scholars interested in the philosophical complexities of performativity.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Academic and Postgraduate
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-032-98118-5 (9781032981185)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Douglas Robinson | Xiaorui Sun
Translation, Pornography, Performativity
Experimenting with That Dangerous Supplement
E-Book
04/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€31.49
Available for download

Douglas Robinson | Xiaorui Sun
Translation, Pornography, Performativity
Experimenting with That Dangerous Supplement
Book
04/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€78.40
Shipment within 10-20 days

Douglas Robinson | Xiaorui Sun
Translation, Pornography, Performativity
Experimenting with That Dangerous Supplement
E-Book
04/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€31.49
Available for download
Persons
Douglas Robinson, Professor of Translation Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, is one of the world's most productive and most respected translation theorists.
Xiaorui Sun is Doug's Ph.D. student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.
Xiaorui Sun is Doug's Ph.D. student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.
Content
Preface Acknowledgments Part I: The Performativity of Pornography (and Translatography) 1. Pornography and Performativity 2. The Perlocutionary Effect 3. Translation as Resistance and Cooptation Part II: The Unnatural Iterability of Masturbation (and Translation) 4. That Dangerous Supplement 5. Materializing the Body 6. Dead Performatives (Come Back to Life) Part III: Toward Experimental Translation 7. Zhuangzi Inside Out 8. Experimental Translation Conclusion