- 3-minute read
- 15th September 2016
Referencing a Translated Book (Harvard, APA, MLA and Chicago)
Pity translators. Without them, many great works of literature would be unavailable in English. Likewise, scientific research would be unreadable for anyone unfamiliar with the language in which it was written. Yet translators rarely get muchg credit.
For example, translators are often overlooked when referencing sources in essays. This is also bad academic practice, since you need to acknowledge the translator when a book you’ve read isn’t in its original language.
As such, today we’re looking at how to reference book in translation using the Harvard, APA, MLA and Chicago citation systems.
Harvard Referencing
Referencing a translated book in Harvard referencing involves giving the translator’s name and the original language after the book’s title:
Sartre, J-P. (1969) Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology (trans. from French by H. E. Barnes), London, Routledge.
However, conventions for Harvard referencing may differ slightly depending on your university, so you should always remember to check your style guide!
APA Referencing
When citing a work in translation in APA referencing, you will need to give both the year it was originally published and the year it was published in translation:
Freud (1899/1976) was the first to note this phenomenon.
In the reference list, meanwhile, you will need to name the translator and ‘Trans.’ after the title of the source, along with the original date of publication in parentheses at the end of the reference. For instance:
Freud, S. (1976). The interpretation of dreams (J. Strachey, Trans.). Penguin. (Original work published 1899)
APA also has specific conventions for citing a book you’ve read in another language. In this case, you add an English translation of the book’s title in brackets:
Sartre, J-P. (1943). L’Être et le néant : Essai d’ontologie phénoménologique [Being and nothingness: An essay on phenomenological ontology]. NRF.
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Note that APA also uses a sentence case format in the reference list, so only the first words of titles and subtitles, along with proper nouns, should be capitalised.
MLA Referencing
Similarly to the systems above, MLA referencing requires giving the name of the translator after the book’s title in the ‘Works Cited’ list:
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology. Translated by Hazel E. Barnes. London: Routledge, 1969.
If desired, you can also provide additional details, such as the original title, language or publication date, after the main publication information.
Chicago Referencing
Both versions of Chicago referencing – parenthetical citations and the footnote/bibliography system – require giving additional information when citing a translated book.
If you’re using parenthetical author–date citations, it’s only in the reference list that you’ll need to specify the translator, giving their name after the title of the book:
Sartre, Jean-Paul. 1969. Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology. Translated by Hazel E. Barnes. London: Routledge.
If you’re using footnotes, however, name the translator in the first citation:
1. Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology, trans. Hazel E. Barnes (London: Routledge, 1969), 126-127.
This information is then excluded from subsequent citations of the same source, but repeated in the bibliography:
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology. Translated by Hazel E. Barnes. London: Routledge, 1969.
