Though the practice of self-translation long predates modernity, it has found new forms of expression in the global literary market of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. The international renown of self-translating authors Samuel Beckett, Joseph Brodsky, and Vladimir Nabokov has offered motivation to a new generation of writers who actively translate themselves.

Intervening in recent debates in world literature and translation studies, Writing It Twice establishes the prominence and vitality of self-translation in contemporary French literature. Because of its intrinsic connection to multiple literary communities, self-translation prompts a reexamination of the aesthetics and politics of reading across national lines. Kippur argues that self-translated works should be understood as the paradigmatic example of world literature and, as such, crucial for interpreting the dynamics of literary circulation into and out of French.

"Despite its slim spine, this book makes a huge contribution to self-translation and translingual studies, and challenges us to think about world literature from the perspective of its capacity for 'engaging distinct language publics' (p. 128) rather than according to its presence within a literary system beyond that of its original culture." —The French Review

"The connections Kippur establishes between autobiographical or life-writing, self-translation, and world literatures make [Writing It Twice] an excellent resource for scholars in these fields… [and] even readers approaching the topic of self-translation for the first time." —Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association