How do I indicate in my work-cited-list entry that the translator of a work is the same as the author of a work?
Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.
If the version of the work you are citing indicates that the author is also the translator of the work, repeat the author’s last name in the “Other contributor” slot:
Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. Translated by Beckett, Grove Press, 1954.
If, however, you are citing a work known to be translated by its author but not presented as a translation, do not list the author as the translator:
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. Wizard of the Crow. Anchor Books, 2007.
If it is important for your reader to know that the author is also the translator of the work, mention this fact in your prose or in an endnote.