Between Translation and Traduction
-
Agnes Whitfield
Abstract
Several translation paradoxes underlie the writing and translation of the classic Canadian novel, Two Solitudes, whose very title has come to symbolize the irreconcilable gap between Anglophones and Francophones in Canada. These paradoxes reflect the intercultural nature of the book’s themes, the contrary crossreadings of both the original and its translation (the book was well received by both groups for opposite reasons), the colonial position of both nascent English and Québécois literary institutions, and the absence, in both cultures, of any clearly defined horizon of expectations for literary translation. Using Antoine Berman’s distinction between the actual translation (or traduction) of a text and the reception process (or translation) in the receiving culture, one appreciates the need for a more extensive analysis of the reception (translation) process, an analysis that looks both backwards in time to identify the hidden translation intertexts within the original text (Two Solitudes is in fact a translation of a Québec novel, Trente Arpents), and forward in time to clarify how a translated text can inform the more general intercultural process of translation between two languages.
Abstract
Several translation paradoxes underlie the writing and translation of the classic Canadian novel, Two Solitudes, whose very title has come to symbolize the irreconcilable gap between Anglophones and Francophones in Canada. These paradoxes reflect the intercultural nature of the book’s themes, the contrary crossreadings of both the original and its translation (the book was well received by both groups for opposite reasons), the colonial position of both nascent English and Québécois literary institutions, and the absence, in both cultures, of any clearly defined horizon of expectations for literary translation. Using Antoine Berman’s distinction between the actual translation (or traduction) of a text and the reception process (or translation) in the receiving culture, one appreciates the need for a more extensive analysis of the reception (translation) process, an analysis that looks both backwards in time to identify the hidden translation intertexts within the original text (Two Solitudes is in fact a translation of a Québec novel, Trente Arpents), and forward in time to clarify how a translated text can inform the more general intercultural process of translation between two languages.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: On the social and cultural in translation studies 1
-
Agents behind translation
- Trends in the translation of a minority language 27
- “Of course Germans have a certain interest in Finland, but…” 41
- Translation from the point of view of the East German censorship files 53
-
Social histories
- Choosing not to translate 65
- From Robinson Crusoe to Robinson in Wallachia 73
-
Perceived roles and values
- Translating from across the channel in nineteenth-century France 83
- English translation in Gujarat 93
-
Interaction of inner and outer contexts
- Between Translation and Traduction 101
- Bilingual translation/writing as intercultural communication 117
-
Power relations disclosed
- The female state of the art 129
- Translation as discursive import 143
-
Power distribution and cooperation
- “Translation culture” in interpreted asylum hearings 151
- Interpreting at an immigration detention center in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 163
- Negotiating linguistic and cultural identities in interpreter-mediated communication for public health services 173
-
Constructing systems
- Babel rebuilt 191
- From 10-minute wedding ceremonies to three-week spa treatment programs 201
-
The view from Interpreting Studies
- “Going social?” On pathways and paradigms in interpreting studies 215
- Notes on contributors 233
- References 237
- Index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: On the social and cultural in translation studies 1
-
Agents behind translation
- Trends in the translation of a minority language 27
- “Of course Germans have a certain interest in Finland, but…” 41
- Translation from the point of view of the East German censorship files 53
-
Social histories
- Choosing not to translate 65
- From Robinson Crusoe to Robinson in Wallachia 73
-
Perceived roles and values
- Translating from across the channel in nineteenth-century France 83
- English translation in Gujarat 93
-
Interaction of inner and outer contexts
- Between Translation and Traduction 101
- Bilingual translation/writing as intercultural communication 117
-
Power relations disclosed
- The female state of the art 129
- Translation as discursive import 143
-
Power distribution and cooperation
- “Translation culture” in interpreted asylum hearings 151
- Interpreting at an immigration detention center in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 163
- Negotiating linguistic and cultural identities in interpreter-mediated communication for public health services 173
-
Constructing systems
- Babel rebuilt 191
- From 10-minute wedding ceremonies to three-week spa treatment programs 201
-
The view from Interpreting Studies
- “Going social?” On pathways and paradigms in interpreting studies 215
- Notes on contributors 233
- References 237
- Index 253
