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Chapter 11. Translation, multilingualism and power differential in contemporary African literature

  • Paul Bandia
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Translating Asymmetry – Rewriting Power
This chapter is in the book Translating Asymmetry – Rewriting Power

Abstract

Contemporary African literature is, by its very nature, a fertile ground for elucidating the rather symbiotic relation between translation and power differential, given the inherent multilingualism and the implied language hierarchy characteristic of the African postcolonial context. Asymmetry here begins with the unequal power relations between orality and literacy, between oral tradition and writing, between indigenous languages and the languages of colonization. This power differential is enhanced further by the ever-increasing gap between languages of officialdom and the evolving and rapidly assertive languages of creolization. To the extent that African literature is a window into life in contemporary African society, the aesthetic representation of Africanity in writing as well as in colonial or global languages involves translating asymmetry and negotiating, redressing or rewriting power inequalities. This underlying characteristic of African literature dovetails with literary practices in the diaspora whereby migration and identitarian politics draw heavily from the notion of translation as a mechanism for expressing discourses of resistance to oppression and asymmetrical power relations. This chapter seeks to lay bare the underpinnings of power differentials in contemporary African literature and to highlight the role of translation in resisting asymmetry and rewriting power.

Abstract

Contemporary African literature is, by its very nature, a fertile ground for elucidating the rather symbiotic relation between translation and power differential, given the inherent multilingualism and the implied language hierarchy characteristic of the African postcolonial context. Asymmetry here begins with the unequal power relations between orality and literacy, between oral tradition and writing, between indigenous languages and the languages of colonization. This power differential is enhanced further by the ever-increasing gap between languages of officialdom and the evolving and rapidly assertive languages of creolization. To the extent that African literature is a window into life in contemporary African society, the aesthetic representation of Africanity in writing as well as in colonial or global languages involves translating asymmetry and negotiating, redressing or rewriting power inequalities. This underlying characteristic of African literature dovetails with literary practices in the diaspora whereby migration and identitarian politics draw heavily from the notion of translation as a mechanism for expressing discourses of resistance to oppression and asymmetrical power relations. This chapter seeks to lay bare the underpinnings of power differentials in contemporary African literature and to highlight the role of translation in resisting asymmetry and rewriting power.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Contributors ix
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section I. Revisiting the foundations of asymmetry
  6. Chapter 1. Translating strangers 15
  7. Chapter 2. Negotiating asymmetry 35
  8. Chapter 3. Helpers, professional authority, and pathologized bodies 55
  9. Chapter 4. An information asymmetry framework for strategic translation policy in multinational corporations 77
  10. Chapter 5. Tom, Dick and Harry as well as Fido and Puss in boots are translators 101
  11. Section II. Unveiling the structure
  12. Chapter 6. Child language brokering in Swedish welfare institutions 125
  13. Chapter 7. Responsibility, powerlessness, and conflict 145
  14. Chapter 8. Of places, spaces, and faces 169
  15. Chapter 9. Translating values 197
  16. Chapter 10. EU institutional websites 227
  17. Section III. Resisting asymmetries
  18. Chapter 11. Translation, multilingualism and power differential in contemporary African literature 255
  19. Chapter 12. Small yet powerful 269
  20. Chapter 13. Against the asymmetry of the post-Francoist canon 291
  21. Chapter 14. Citizens as agents of translation versions 313
  22. Chapter 15. (Re)locating translation within asymmetrical power dynamics 335
  23. Chapter 16. Agency and social responsibility in the translation of the migration crisis 361
  24. Index 379
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.157.11ban

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Contributors ix
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section I. Revisiting the foundations of asymmetry
  6. Chapter 1. Translating strangers 15
  7. Chapter 2. Negotiating asymmetry 35
  8. Chapter 3. Helpers, professional authority, and pathologized bodies 55
  9. Chapter 4. An information asymmetry framework for strategic translation policy in multinational corporations 77
  10. Chapter 5. Tom, Dick and Harry as well as Fido and Puss in boots are translators 101
  11. Section II. Unveiling the structure
  12. Chapter 6. Child language brokering in Swedish welfare institutions 125
  13. Chapter 7. Responsibility, powerlessness, and conflict 145
  14. Chapter 8. Of places, spaces, and faces 169
  15. Chapter 9. Translating values 197
  16. Chapter 10. EU institutional websites 227
  17. Section III. Resisting asymmetries
  18. Chapter 11. Translation, multilingualism and power differential in contemporary African literature 255
  19. Chapter 12. Small yet powerful 269
  20. Chapter 13. Against the asymmetry of the post-Francoist canon 291
  21. Chapter 14. Citizens as agents of translation versions 313
  22. Chapter 15. (Re)locating translation within asymmetrical power dynamics 335
  23. Chapter 16. Agency and social responsibility in the translation of the migration crisis 361
  24. Index 379
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