When you're diving into a book that's been translated, especially for academic work in the humanities, you'll want to make sure your citations are spot on. The Modern Language Association (MLA) style has a clear way of handling these gems, and thankfully, it's not too far off from how you'd cite any other book.
Think of it like this: the original author is still the star, but we also need to give credit where it's due to the person who bridged the language gap. So, on your Works Cited page, you'll start with the original author's name, just like usual – last name, then first name, followed by a period. Then comes the book's title, italicized and in title case, ending with another period.
Here's where the translation part comes in. You'll add "Trans." (that's short for 'translated by') followed by the translator's full name. A period after that, and then you're on to the familiar territory of publication details: the location, a colon, the publisher, and the year of publication, all separated by commas. Finally, you'll note the medium, like "Print."
For those in-text citations, the good news is it's pretty straightforward. It generally follows the standard MLA format for books: the author's last name and the page number in parentheses. The system is designed to give credit to the original creator while acknowledging the vital role of the translator in bringing that work to a new audience. It’s all about respecting the journey of the text and the people who made it accessible.
