Abstract
Lori Chamberlain’s eye-opening article “Gender and the Metaphorics of Translation”, originally published in 1988, first described translators in general as “handmaidens to authors”. This fruitful analysis helped open up interesting avenues for feminist translation. On the one hand, it highlighted the need for a reformulation of the actual theoretical concepts underlying traditional translation theory; while on the other, it opened up questions regarding the status of women translators in practice. However, further studies have questioned this idea of the translator as female and inferior. For example, postcolonial approaches have shown that Western translators have usually exercised their power to interpret the Other in ways that were complicit with colonial endeavours. It is in this framework that this article explores the power implications of translation for the Galician literary system. The Galician literary system may be interesting as it can be seen as a non-hegemonic system (inside Europe) or a hegemonic one (outside Europe). The analysis of two translations, that of Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea by Manuel Forcadela, and that of Sandra Cisneros’ Loose Woman by Marilar Aleixandre shall explore two opposing trends. The first one is a trend in which the discourse of the non-hegemonic position of Galician actually allows for patriarchal and colonial interventions in translation, while the other one takes feminist solidarity as a base for a relationship with the female postcolonial Other.
Highlights
María Reimóndez Independent Researcher, SpainLori Chamberlain’s article “Gender and the Metaphorics of Translation” originally published in 1988 first described translators in general as “handmaidens to authors”, opening up interesting avenues for feminist translation
This paper aims at updating and broadening the scope of these approaches with examples taken from the Galician literary system, which may prove interesting as Galician identity occupies a space at the intersection of non-hegemonic and hegemonic identities
My own analysis of the self-perception of Galician literary translators regarding their role in the translation process underlines the role of normalizador/a as one of the most important elements in the self-perception of the translators studied.19. This is not surprising if we look at the profile of Galician translators furnished by Constenla Bergueiro above; Baxter (3-24) has already analyzed the gender implications of this particular framework, highlighting how women have traditionally been excluded from literary translation because of the close links between nation-building and translation
Summary
Lori Chamberlain’s article “Gender and the Metaphorics of Translation” originally published in 1988 first described translators in general as “handmaidens to authors”, opening up interesting avenues for feminist translation. “Amongst those who were in charge of translating (anosar) this important sample of universal literature, the majority of translators [...] had a profile [...] fundamentally similar to those who came before them: teachers and lecturers of all levels of the educational system, writers, people related to the cultural sphere [...] and Galician language and culture activists.” I conducted a systematic review of all the articles published in the journal Viceversa under the section Traducións xustificadas [Translations Explained], where literary translators are given space to discuss the aspects they deem interesting of their work in the translation of a particular book. Out of the 22 titles in the collection, only 6 are translations (Cisneros being the only woman), while the rest were originally written in Galician (again the majority of these works were penned by men, with only 5 women authors in the Galician total)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: TranscUlturAl: A Journal of Translation and Cultural Studies
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
