Brian Nelson (literature professor)

Brian Nelson (born 29 September 1946 in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, UK) is a professor emeritus of French Studies at Monash University, Melbourne.

Nelson graduated with an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University and did postgraduate work at Oxford University where he obtained his D.Phil. in 1979.[1] 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.[1] Nelson taught modern French literature and cultural history, and literary translation.[1]

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 for the Oxford World's Classics series.[2][1] 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.[3]

Nelson was formerly the editor of the Australian Journal of French Studies (2002-2020),[2][4] co-founded the journal Romance Studies,[2][5] edited the monograph series Monash Romance Studies,[2][1] and is a former President of AALITRA (the Australian Association for Literary Translation).[6][7]