From Talel to Cultural Rights: The Challenge of Translating Transnational Discourse on Indigenous Rights in the Tseltal Area

Abstract

This paper explores the tensions and problems in the translation process of the terms "culture," "tradition," and "custom" in different versions of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples produced in Tseltal, a Maya language. Mirroring these translations with the meaning of all terms related to these concepts and used in the local's everyday life allows assessing important semantic divergences between the source and target languages. These concepts became indispensable tools for intercultural dialogues in socio-political claims. A careful attention to their translation reveals the creation of intermediary semantic spaces using neologisms or attributions of new meaning to existing forms. It also underlines the desire of their authors to adapt universal discourse to local context, in a complex cross-cultural translation that meets external expectations and actors' interests.