Abstracts
Abstract
This paper explores two interrelated problems of method of concern to translation historians and that are part of the overarching issue of interdisciplinarity. The first has to do with conflicting methods used in history and the second with deciding whether or not it is necessary for a translation scholar to define her or his philosophical position with regards to history. This article is part of a book project on the history of translation in Louisiana, which has been understudied. The writing of a translation history implies the act of rendering visible what has been obscured by the official grand narrative of History, or what Nietzsche called “monumental” history. To look for translation where officially there was none, or very little, amounts to search for multiple histories of people who do not necessarily fit into the dominant definition of what it means to be American, because they spoke languages other than English and adhered to cultural practices that resisted melting into the common pot. From this perspective history is viewed as discourse because, very much like translation, it is made up of language, seen as living matter shaped and manipulated by power relations. The focus of the study is two local 19th-century historians from Louisiana who repeatedly doubled up as translators—from French to English and back into French—to produce histories of Louisiana. The conclusion states that translation historians are first historiographers, imbued with all the disciplinary and ethical responsibilities that entails. Since historiography forms a nexus for history and translation, it is not only necessary to theorize both but also to develop methods that can be integral to both.
Keywords:
- history,
- translation,
- historiography,
- interdisciplinarity,
- Louisiana
Résumé
Cette étude se penche sur deux problèmes méthodiques reliés entre eux qui préoccupent les historiens de la traduction et font partie de la question globale de l’interdisciplinarité. Il s’agit premièrement des méthodes divergentes utilisées en histoire et deuxièmement, il s’agit de savoir s’il est nécessaire qu’un/e traductologue définisse sa propre position philosophique en ce qui concerne l’histoire. Le présent article est un fragment d’un futur livre sur l’histoire de la traduction en Louisiane, un sujet jusqu’ici peu étudié. L’écriture d’une histoire de la traduction oblige à remettre au jour ce qui a été occulté par l’Histoire officielle, ou ce que Nietzsche a appelé l’«histoire monumentale ». Chercher des traductions là où, officiellement, il n’en existe pas, ou si peu, signifie aller à la recherche des multiples histoires de gens qui ne correspondent pas à l’identité américaine dominante parce qu’ils parlaient des langues autres que l’anglais et adhéraient à des pratiques culturelles qui les empêchaient de se fondre dans le creuset américain. Dans cette perspective, l’histoire est discours parce que, à l’instar de la traduction, elle est faite de langage, elle est une matière vivante modelée et manipulée par les relations de pouvoir. Notre étude analyse le cas de deux historiens de la Louisiane du XIXe siècle qui, dans une sorte d’aller-retour, eurent recours à la traduction — du français vers l’anglais, puis retour au français — pour rédiger leur propre histoire de la Louisiane. Nous en venons à la conclusion que les historiens de la traduction sont d’abord des historiographes, conscients des responsabilités professionnelles et éthiques que cela entraîne. Histoire et traduction sont liées par l’historiographie; c’est pour cette raison qu’il est nécessaire, non seulement d’élaborer des théories, mais aussi de développer des méthodes pouvant intégrer les deux disciplines.
Mots-clés :
- histoire,
- traduction,
- historiographie,
- inter-disciplinarité,
- Louisiane
Appendices
Appendices
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