Chibat Hicham.

Book review:
Comparative Stylistics Of French And English: A methodology for translation. Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet. Translated and edited by Juan C. Sager and M.-J. Hamel. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1995. 359 pp.

The book was written in 1958 in French. It was an important reference in comparative stylistics and English-French translation studies, and due to its success, it was translated into English 40 years after its publication. The book goes beyond what its title suggests providing a great explanation of translation methods. As its translators note : While, as the title suggests, the book is essentially concerned with contrasting the stylistic features of English and French, its continued popularity is in large measures due to its clear presentation and generous exemplification of a succession of methods of translation. The translators improved the book by editing the content taking into account the growth of the aspects of translation. Vinay and Darbelnet state that exercises in translation from and into the foreign language are not useful unless they occur in areas previously explored by other methods. The book has four chapters. The first chapter provides the basic information and concepts that are essential in the subsequent chapters, and it also provides a great explanation of translation methods and procedures. The second chapter deals with the lexical issues in translation. It highlights the similarities and differences between the lexicon of the two languages. The third chapter explores areas of structure. It studies the order of words in the utterances and how it affects the meaning. And finally the fourth chapter analyzes the problems that affect the translation at the level of the message. Each of the four chapters ends with a list of books for further reading. The book provides a collection of translated texts with a great explanation related to the

areas explored, which adds a practical dimension to the book. And it also has a list of terms defined and explained with examples. Comparative Stylistics of French and English is a necessary book for the teachers and the students of translation. The book covers almost all the areas where problems in translation may occur. The language of the book is so clear and the terms are well defined and exemplified which make it very easy to follow through. The lists of books provided for further reading are very helpful to get extra information about the subject. The work of the writers and the translators made this book one of its kind in the field of translation studies.