Leah Gerber Leah Gerber i(A109267 works by)
Born: Established: 1979 ;
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 Behind the Wall, through Australian Eyes : Anna Funder's Stasiland Leah Gerber , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literature in the German Democratic Republic : Reading through the Iron Curtain 2016; (p. 221-238)
1 Traversing the Unfamiliar : German Translations of Aboriginality in James Vance Marshall’s The Children and Phillip Gwynne’s Deadly Unna? and Nukkin Ya Leah Gerber , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 1 2014;

'The tendency for Western cultures to emphasise imperial attitudes and experiences in their literature has been described by Edward Said as the primary means by which colonised people assert their identity and the existence of their own history (xii). The tradition of Australian children’s literature, which first grew out of contributions made by European colonisers and largely ignored any indigenous past has been referred to as a “product of colonial history” (Bradford, “Representing Indigeneity” 90) and “a shamelessly racist catalogue of prejudice and misinformation, of superficial clichés, offensive stereotyping and entirely subjective interpretation” (McVitty 7). Historians Robert Hodge and Vijay Mishra use the term Aboriginalism – a variation of Said’s notion of Orientalism – to describe the way in which colonial powers traditionally constructed ideas about the colonised other within patterns of discourse, aptly masking their racist objective and appearing to function constructively (27).

'Focusing on three Australian children’s texts translated into German, this paper examines how the notion of Aboriginality – at different points in time – is presented in the source text and dealt with in translation. While consideration of the purpose – the skopos (Vermeer 1989/2004) – of the translation forming the backbone of contemporary translation theory, the so-called aims of children’s literary translation also cast an important light on the way in which translation strategies are informed. Furthering the international outlook and understanding of young readers remains the most commonly agreed-upon objective of children’s literary translation. In real terms, the execution of this aim often comes down to the decision to foreignise or domesticate. The problem, as translator Anthea Bell writes, is that “one wants readers of the translated text to feel that they are getting the real book, as close as possible to the original”, but which – vitally – includes respecting the foreign aspects of the source text (62). Yet translators of children’s literature (unlike translators of adult literature) have the added challenge of having to negotiate a variety of what Katharina Reiss calls ‘Vermittlerinstanzen’ (intermediaries): parents, teachers, librarians and publishers, who place pressure on the translator (in regards to taboos and pedagogical aspects of the text), so much so that the outcome (i.e. the target text) is affected (7).' (Publication abstract)

1 Translation: Please Don't Let Me be Misunderstood! Leah Gerber , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Emerging Writer : An Insider's Guide to Your Writing Journey 2012; (p. 109-114)
1 y separately published work icon Creative Constraints : Translation and Authorship Rita Wilson (editor), Leah Gerber (editor), Clayton : Monash University Publishing , 2012 Z1876233 2012 anthology criticism The essays in this book address one of the central issues in literary translation, namely the relationship between the creative freedom enjoyed by the translator and the multiplicity of constraints to which translation is necessarily subject. The links between an author's translation work and his or her own writing are likewise explored. Through a series of compelling case studies, this volume illustrates the parallel and overlapping discourses within the cognate areas of Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Translation Studies, which together propose a view of translation as (a form of) creative writing and creative writing as being shaped by translation processes. The translations of selected contemporary French, Spanish, and German texts offer readers some insight into how the translator's work mirrors and complements that of the creative writer. With the combination of theory and practice it presented, this book will appeal not just to specialists in Translation Studies, but also to a wider public. [From the back cover]
1 The Proof Is in the Puddin': The German Translation of Norman Lindsay's The Magic Pudding Leah Gerber , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Bookbird , January-February vol. 49 no. 1 2011; (p. 17-30)
Gerber grapples with issues of translating an Australian classic book for children into German with a careful consideration of how names, food words, rhymes, and humor may or may not cross cultures across time.
1 Between Bush and Sea : (Re)positioning the Natural Environment in German Translations of Australian Children's Literature Leah Gerber , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Passagen : 50 Jahre Germanistik an der Monash Universität/Passages : 50 Years of German Studies at Monash University 2010; (p. 723-753)
1 Australian Voices in Germany : The Translation of Anna Funder's Stasiland into German Leah Gerber , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Sydney Pen Magazine , November 2009; (p. 20-26)

The 3rd Conference of the International Association for Translation & Intercultural Studies (IATIS) was held at Monash University, Melbourne, in July 2009. The theme of the conference was 'Mediation & Conflict: Translation and Culture in a Global Context' and embraced such topics as cultural translation, the translator/interpreter as cultural broker in a trans-national world, the role of literary translation in challenging or reinforcing cultural difference, new media in translation, and political and ideological dimensions of translation. This is an excerpt from a paper presented by Dr Leah Gerber, of Monash University.


Many German publishers were unwilling to publish a German translation of Stasiland because the subject matter remained sensitive at the time of the book’s release. When the translation finally appeared, some German readers demanded to know why Funder thought she had the right to write about German history. The act of translation was also complex, as has been discussed by literary translation scholar Leah Gerber in this essay. Just one example is that Funder interviewed subjects in German, but then translated the interviews into English. “One of the key challenges posed to the translator,” Gerber notes, “is how to present a ‘reversed’ translation situation.”

1 Paratextual Mediation in Translation : Translating the Titles of Australian Children’s Fiction into German, 1945 – the Present Leah Gerber , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Monash University Linguistics Papers , September vol. 6 no. 1 2008; (p. 41–50)
Post 1945, Australian writers have produced a significant body of work from which an equally impressive number of translations have now been published. In the period 1945-2007, around eighty different authors have contributed to over 270 German-language translations of Australian children's fiction. Many authors have written and published consistently over two or more decades and, in such cases, the author's entire (or close to) body of work has been translated into German. Drawing from a corpus of Australian children's novels translated into German in the period from 1945 to the present, this paper investigates the way in which titles are translated. It addresses how choices made by paratextual mediators affect the way the translation is marketed in the target culture: specifically, whether any specifically Australian cultural signifiers are employed in the titles. In a broader sense, the paper also analyses how the different cultural norms of the target culture may impact upon the translation of titles, thus assisting in the growing understanding of the role of paratextual mediation in translation. [Source: Monash University Linguistics Papers vol. 6, no. 1]
1 Building Bridges, Building a Bibliography of Australian Children’s Fiction in German Translation 1854–2007 Leah Gerber , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship , November vol. 14 no. 2 2008; (p. 141–157)
This paper traces the process of creating a comprehensive bibliography of Australian children's novels translated into German. The exchange of literature between two cultures has often been expressed using the phrase, 'books serve as bridges,' drawing on the idea that translation enables readers to access information that would otherwise be inaccessible. Building national bibliographies of translated literature is crucial to the recognition of existing bridges between cultures; the examination of a large body of national literature in translation allows for a deeper insight into some of the specific demands of translating literature for children, noting the prevailing trends and/or changes over time. In a wider context, the bibliography confirms the number of translations of Australian children's literature into German and points to a range of trends pertaining to any clear preference for the translation of works by certain Australian authors, as well as for the translation of particular genres, themes, and so on. The compilation of this bibliography formed the basis of a larger study into the translation of Australian children's fiction in German translation. [Source: New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship Vol:14 No:2]
1 y separately published work icon Tracing a Tradition : The Translation of Australian Children's Fiction into German from 1945 to the Present Leah Gerber , 2007 Z1675555 2007 single work thesis
1 'If I've Arsked Youse Boys Once, I've Arsked Youse Boys a Thousand Times!': Translation Strategies in the German Translation of Phillip Gwynne's Deadly Unna Leah Gerber , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers: Explorations into Children's Literature , May vol. 17 no. 1 2007; (p. 51-56)
This paper is concerned with the 'textual and extratextual' constraints imposed upon a work when it is translated, specifically how certain Australian cultural signifiers are transferred from the original source text to a German target text through the acts of translation (p.51). Gerber uses the novel Deadly, Unna? as an example of the complexities and possible problems involved in translating narratives which highlight a specific cultural context, in this case, relations between the indigenous and non-indigenous people of a small rural community which culminate around the town's local football team.
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