Gendered gloss

At the end of women in translation month, where are all the women in the translator’s toolbox?

Glossarissimo collates glossaries and resources on EVERYTHING from watermark terminology to a dictionary of Victorian slang. It really is useful and comprehensive. When you’re stuck for a word in a very specific field, it’s a good place to start looking.

If you put “women” into its search box, this is what you get: glossaries of fashion, health and shoes. “Woman” is more interesting: gun, circus and political terminology come first.

Of course you need to define your search terms better, but you still might not get what you want: would it help to have a glossary of carnival glass terms for a spectacular break through the glass ceiling?

Or maybe you need a new glossary of old resources. The British Library has just put illustrations on its glossary of illuminated manuscripts. The collection turned up this wonderful image of the sisters of Queen Antiope jousting against Theseus and Hercules, from a 13^th century Jerusalem manuscript.

It seems women in translation have a long way to go, but some powerful resources to draw on.

sisters of Queen Antiope jousting against Theseus and Hercules, from a 13th century Jerusalem manuscript now in the British Library