Brian Nelson (born 29 September 1946 in

Holbeach Holbeach is a market town and civil parish in the South Holland District in Lincolnshire, England. The town lies from Spalding; from Boston; from King's Lynn; from Peterborough; and by road from Lincoln. It is on the junction of the ...

, Lincolnshire, UK) is a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of French Studies at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Nelson graduated with an undergraduate degree from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and did postgraduate work at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

where he obtained his D.Phil. in 1979. Before going to Monash he taught one year in Paris (1970–71) and several years at the University of Wales Aberystwyth (1973–86). In 1986, he became professor at Monash and retired in 2008. Nelson taught modern French literature and cultural history, and

literary translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. In addition to a number of monographs including ''Zola and the Bourgeoisie'' and ''Émile Zola: A Selective Analytical Bibliography'', he has made a number of modern translations of

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

for the

Oxford World's Classics Oxford World's Classics is an imprint of Oxford University Press. First established in 1901 by Grant Richards and purchased by OUP in 1906, this imprint publishes primarily dramatic and classic literature for students and the general public. ...

series. Speaking about his translation of ''The Belly of Paris'', Nelson said: :My aim as a translator is to transform Zola's prose into a work of art that approaches the original, that is, is faithful to the spirit of the original. This means capturing the structure and rhythms, the tone and texture, and the lexical choices --in sum, the particular idiom-- of Zola's novel, as well as preserving the "feel" of the social context out of which the novel emerged and which it represents. Nelson was formerly the editor of the '' Australian Journal of French Studies'' (2002-2020), co-founded the journal ''

Romance Studies Romance studies or Romance philology (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is an academic discipline that covers the study of the languages, literatures, and cultures of areas that speak Romance languages. Romance studies departments usually include the study of Spa ...

'', edited the monograph series ''Monash Romance Studies'', and is a former President of AALITRA (the Australian Association for Literary Translation).

Selected works

Author *''Zola and the Bourgeoisie: A Study of Themes and Techniques in '' (1982) *''Émile Zola: A Selective Analytical Bibliography'' (1982) *''The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature'' (2015) *''Emile Zola: A Very Short Introduction'' (2020) Editor *''Naturalism in the European novel: New Critical Perspectives'' (1992) *''Telling Performances: Essays on gender, narrative and performance'' (2001) *''Practising Theory: Pierre Bourdieu and the Field of Cultural Production'' (2004) *''After Blanchot: Literature, Philosophy, Criticism'' (2005) *''The Cambridge Companion to Zola'' (2007) *''Perspectives on Literature and Translation: Creation, Circulation, Reception'' (2013) Translator *Emile Zola, '' The Ladies' Paradise'' (Oxford, 1995) *Emile Zola, '' Pot Luck'' (Oxford, 1999) *Emile Zola, ''

The Kill "The Kill" (written "The Kill (Bury Me)" on the single and music video) is a song by American band Thirty Seconds to Mars. The song was released on January 24, 2006 as the second single from their second album, ''A Beautiful Lie''. It was certi ...

'' (Oxford, 2004) *Emile Zola, '' The Belly of Paris'' (Oxford, 2007) *Emile Zola, ''

The Fortune of the Rougons ''(The Fortune of the Rougons)'', originally published in 1871, is the first novel in Émile Zola's monumental twenty-volume series ''Les Rougon-Macquart''. The novel is partly an origin story, with a large cast of characters - many of whom becom ...

'' (Oxford, 2012) *Emile Zola, ''

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

'' (Oxford, 2016) *Emile Zola, '' His Excellency Eugène Rougon'' (Oxford, 2018) *Emile Zola, '' The Assommoir'' (Oxford, 2021) *Marcel Proust, '' Swann in Love'' (Oxford, 2017) *Marcel Proust, ''The Swann Way'' (Oxford, 2023)

Awards and honours

* Jebb Studentship (University of Cambridge) (1969–71) * Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques (2003) * Runner-up, International Federation of Translators "Aurora Borealis" Prize for Outstanding Translation of Fiction (2011) * Elected Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...

(2011) * Winner of the Translation Prize,

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

(2015) * Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques(2021)

Notes

External links

"Book Interview: Translator Brian Nelson on Finally Hearing Émile Zola's Voice in English"
''artsfuse.org'', May 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Brian Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford Living people Australian translators Academic staff of Monash University People from Holbeach 1946 births Translators of Émile Zola Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities