Translating spaces and memories of migration: the case of the Red Star Line Museum

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the construction and transmission of memory in the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp, Belgium. The museum, which opened in 2013 in the historic buildings of the shipping company, presents itself as a unique lieu de mémoire, harbouring the stories of the many Europeans who migrated across the Atlantic in the early 20th century. We concentrate on a Translation Studies perspective to chart and interconnect the various levels of memory-work in this museum. Drawing on broader definitions of translation as cultural transfer and mnemonic mediation, and linking these to the narrow concept of translation ‘proper’, our analysis demonstrates how the museum functions as a local repository for transnational memories. Moreover, it shows how the museum becomes a catalyst for the further travelling of these memories. The focus lies on the museum’s use of spatiality to translate personal memories of migration for a contemporary audience. It is the physical sensation of shared spaces – authentic or reconstructed – and the palimpsestic movement through those spaces that help visitors gain a tangible sense of what happened there. Interlingual translations of gallery texts are vital for the worldwide circulation of the stories, but occasionally cause shifts in the spatial–temporal framework.