Books by Clive Scott

Translation often proceeds as if languages already existed, as if the task of the translator were to make an appropriate selection from available resources. Clive Scott challenges this tacit assumption.

This 1980 book is designed to help university students to master the technicalities and techniques of French verse. It aims to provide the groundwork of a terminology, to discuss the origins and implications of that terminology, and to show how terminological knowledge can be translated into critical speculation about poetry.

Traces street photography's origins, asking what really what happened to photography when it first abandoned the studio, and brings to the fore questions about the way the street photographer captures or frames those subjects - traders, lovers, entertainers - so beloved of the genre.

Dr Scott argues that only by attending to the precise locations of words in line or stanza, and to the specific value of syllables, or by understanding the often conflicting demands of rhythm and metre, can the reader of poetry acquire a real grasp of the intimate life of words in verse with all their fluctuations of meaning, mood and tone.

Considers the nature of photography, examining the language used in titles, captions and commentaries, particularly as they relate to documentary photography, photojournalism and fashion photography. This book addresses the question of how the photograph communicates its message, with or without the aid of language.