Documents found
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171.More information
AbstractNo one will dispute that Inuit and Qallunaat senses of their own (and others') “history” are different. But, beyond a few stereotypes framed as oppositions between written and oral, history and myth, etc., one actually knows little about Inuit historicities. This paper argues that recent changes in Inuit historicities do not represent a progress from limited interest in historical questions, to some enlightened historical consciousness. Rather, these changes should be seen as parallelling the recent rapid transitions of their societies, world views and identities. Differences between West Greenlandic and Nunavut historicities may be attributed to the fact that today's visions of the past are the outcome of divergent historical developments within a (post-)colonial framework.
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AbstractTranslation has been theorized as a process of metamorphosis, either as metaphor (replacing the original) or metonymy (substituting part for original whole). I propose an additional model for translation exchanges: the metramorphic processes described by psychoanalyst Bracha Ettinger. Ettinger expands the scope of interactions by describing maternal/late pre-natal infant relations as ‘subjectivity-as-encounter.' Her focus on a ‘severality' preceding autonomous subject positions overcomes the problematic self/other divide and helps us rethink the relation between source and target text. Ettinger posits ‘matrixial' metramorphosis, which, unlike metamorphosis, does not involve total transformations; rather, it indicates expansion or development. Textually, this means that translations do not efface sources through equivalent matches or inevitable losses, but extend them through exchanges in which sources are still present within translations. An alternative to equivalence as the goal of translation and fidelity as the ethics of translation, a matrixial paradigm reflects the dependency of the source text on the translation, as well as the plurality of many texts prior to translation. A metramorphic translation practice amplifies source texts, mediating them through a less polarized and more interconnected perception of difference which is the grounds for a new feminist ethics.
Keywords: ethics of translation, feminist translation, Bracha Ettinger, metamorphosis, The Uncanny, éthique de la traduction, traduction féministe, Bracha Ettinger, métamorphose, L'Inquiétante étrangeté
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AbstractThis article attempts to assess the contribution of Chinese translators and theorists of the twenties and thirties, in particular the famous writer Lu Xun, whom I consider the first modern translation theorist in China. It is with him that China entered its modern phase in translation. Not only did he advocate retaining the foreignness of the original text, in a way reminiscent of the entire tradition of German Romantic translation theorists from Schleiermacher to von Humboldt to Goethe; he also explored in his own translations the possibilities for enriching the Chinese language through the importation of Europeanized structures and expressions. It is these foreignizing impulses that set Lu Xun apart most clearly from pre-modern Chinese theorists. At the same time, these impulses connect him with leading giants of translation theory like Nabokov and Benjamin (who emphasized the importance of the literal method in translation) on the one hand, and Venuti and Holmes (who highlighted processes of indigenization and exoticization in translation) on the other.Lu Xun's ideas had a particular place in the wider cultural and historical context. Views similar to his had been advocated by his predecessors at the beginning of the century, whose attempt to Europeanize the classical language did not, unfortunately, find a large following. In his own time, Lu found ardent supporters among friends and colleagues who either (a) suggested thorough Europeanization, or (b) preferred limited Europeanization. Dissenting views, however, were clearly voiced by some of the other leading writers of the day. So there were (a) those who favored the use of a language based on the actual words spoken by the populace and (b) those who queried why one should not learn a foreign language and read the original instead. My article deals at length with the debates among these theorists and seeks to understand them from the perspective of contemporary Western translation theory.
Keywords: Chinese translation theory, literalism, foreignization, modernity, Lu Xun, Théorie de la traduction en Chine, littéralisme, traduction éthique, modernité, Lu Xun
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175.More information
A recurrent concern of Daniel Simeoni's writings is the concealed or disguised cultural origins of theoretical reflection or absence of reflection on translation. Allying this concern to a discomfort around particular kinds of universalist claims, this article examines forms of translation thought and practice that have emerged in the digital age. Two approaches to thinking about translation, “massive” thinking, and “detailed” thinking are used to situate particular kinds of translation practice in the era of automation and semi-automation. The strategic importance of detail in translation practice is located within the rising popularity of gist or indicative translation. Underlying both the “massive” and “detailed” approaches to translation, it is argued, are two different approaches to the question of the universal. The tension between easy universalism and difficult universalism is seen as bound up with projections of power and influence from which, as Simeoni repeatedly argued, translation and thinking about translation are not immune. In order to further develop the implications of difficult universalism for translation thinking and practice, the notion of “gap” is opposed to that of difference. The idea of “gap” avoids the reifying thrust of typicality that often underlies the invocation of difference and favours not so much the celebration of identity as the cultivation of fecundity. In this view, translators look to languages and cultures not so much for values as for resources. Where these “gaps” might be located is, of course, a source of endless conjecture but it is argued that in translation practices in the digital age, one place to look is in the debates around quality and what quality might mean in a digital age. The challenge quality poses for extensive universality is framed within Simeoni's notion of the translator as borderline agent.
Keywords: translation, technology, universalism, identity, culture, traduction, technologie, universalisme, identité, culture
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In this paper, critical narrativity is considered from a double perspective, that of the narrative aspect in literary critique on the one hand and of the critical dimension of narration on the other. Using examples from the latest Quebecois literary corpus, the aim is to link argumentation and narration in both types of texts, thus showing the present trend towards hybridation between critique and narration ; a process which has led each category to pour over, into the other, critique leaving a certain structuralist orthodoxy in order to make some fictional knowledge its own, narration largely welcoming the critical discourse as to offer a knowledgeable fiction.
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