‘Translation exists because men speak different languages’.1
This thesis examines this by asking the question ‘what about the language of women’ within
translation. By focusing on Emily Wilson, the first woman to translate The Odyssey into
English, this thesis explores this question within a study of translation studies, analysis of the
text and comparative close reading. It will argue that throughout this, a variation of
translation points to a difference in translation process and choices between male and female
translators.
To do this, the discipline of translation studies will be examined, drawing upon the
expertise of translation critics, also analysing the discourse that surrounds translation. The
development of feminist translation studies allows the question of this thesis to be considered
in a more critical way, examining the different techniques and roles of female translators,
crucial in examining a female translation of The Odyssey. Through employing the feminist
theories of both Anglo-American feminist Elaine Showalter and French Feminist Hélène
Cixous, Wilson’s translation, and role as a translator, can be explored in a fascinating way.
Both Showalter’s gynocriticism and Cixous ecriture feminine will be used throughout this
study, so that I can explore the position of Wilson as a female working within these theories.
By engaging with The Odyssey as a feminist text, a discussion is opened concerning the wider
canon and the possibility of revision. Supporting this will be Margaret Atwood’s The
Penelopiad (2005) and Madeline Miller’s Circe (2018), with the aim of exploring how
feminist rewritings, especially of myths, create feminist narratives, and the effects of this
when applied to The Odyssey. To prove if men and women translate differently this thesis
will contain a comparative element, where Wilson’s translation will be compared to Robert Fagles’ celebrated translation. This will prove if women translate differently to men, and in
doing so the possibilities of producing new frameworks, texts and traditions that that can be
explored in a feminist lens.