Barbara Bray, A Woman of Letters
Barbara Bray (1924-2010) was an English woman of letters who translated some hundred novels, plays, and essays from French to English and was Marguerite Duras’s preferred translator. She also collaborated with some of the most prestigious directors and playwrights of the 20th century – Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett, Joseph Losey, and Franco Zeffirelli – helping them write screenplays and radioplays. This literary biography (re)evaluates in a textual, sociological, and historical perspective the social role of an English writer and translator in the history of ideas and contemporary art. Highlighting Bray’s influence in cultural transfers of ideas and literatures between France, Great Britain, and the United States, it renders visible the yet unrecognised work of a female mediator and creator. It nourishes the debate about women’s public voice and the representation of women in the media industries and contributes to enrich the ‘other’ history that is being currently written by feminist scholars around the world.
Pascale Sardin is Professor of English Literature and Translation Studies at Bordeaux Montaigne University (France). She is the author of several books on Samuel Beckett and has edited two volumes of the journal Palimpsestes. With José Francisco Fernández, she edited Samuel Beckett and the Languages of the World (2021). Recently, she also coedited Sexe and Gender in Samuel Beckett/Sexe et genre chez Samuel Beckett, Samuel Beckett Today /Aujourd’hui, 34 (1), 2022.