Translating Science: Contexts and Contests

At the beginning of the 20th century, the well known German neurologist Möbius published an essay entitled Über den physiologischen Schwachsinn des Weibes (On the Physiological Mental Deficiency of Woman). In this scientific compendium, Möbius developed a theory to prove the mental inferiority of women. The essay achieved wide circulation at the time and in 1904 was released in Spain as La inferioridad mental de la mujer (The Mental Inferiority of Woman) by a major publishing house. The translator was the eminent writer Carmen de Burgos, known for her radical politics and feminism. The Spanish edition contains an extensive paratextual apparatus written by the translator herself Informed by recent theoretical and methodological poststructuralist debates in translation studies, history of science, critical discourse analysis and feminist studies, this paper analyzes Carmen de Burgos's paratext as an important site for elaborating the voice of the translator. It demonstrates that translation as a social practice is interwoven with the social and historical context in which it is framed.