ABSTRACT
Genetic criticism (GC) is the study of the genesis of texts, of the strategies and creativity of authors and translators, the constraints upon them and how these factors interact with sociocultural dynamics. GC grew out of literary studies, but its method has been adapted to other kinds of writing, including scientific, pragmatic, news and media, and various digital modes, as well as forms of artistic creation, including the visual arts, cinema, architecture and music. GC uses Debray-Genette’s division of avant-texte into exogenetic and endogentic material. Genetic translation studies (GTS) forms part of a movement away from impersonal systems-based theories of translation towards those that favour the humanization of the translator, seeing translators as not only subjects to forces within larger networks but as humans who act with their own volition and voice. The growth of translation archives in personal, institutional and educational contexts is likely to sustain the development of GTS over the coming decades.
