Abstracts
Abstract
Generally speaking, a minority language is “one spoken by less than 50 percent of a population in a given region, state or country” (Grenoble and Singerman, 2017, n.p.). In this article, I propose a more contextualized definition that applies to the realm of literary writing and (self-)translation. Thus, I define a minority language as any language which a bilingual or plurilingual writer perceives as not being the dominant one in the sociocultural and linguistic context in which s/he is active as an author or as a (self-)translator. Assuming this alternative definition as a point of departure, I discuss the creative and self-translational practice of the Canadian writer Antonio D’Alfonso. D’Alfonso is one of those rare plurilingual writers who feel linguistically defamiliarized, claiming that instead of having a proper mother tongue he has a mixed baggage of native Molisano dialect, French, English and Italian. Thus, he tends to write, think and (self-)translate immersed in a kind of 3D- (or even 4D-) linguistic landscape (Pivato, 2002). D’Alfonso’s self-translations from French into English and/or vice versa are testimony to the author’s experimental way of challenging the “crude subjugation” (Whyte, 2002, p. 69) of a language over another and of overcoming any minority-language complex he might have developed on his path to becoming a linguistically uprooted writer.
Keywords:
- self-translation,
- minor language,
- dominant language,
- transcultural,
- bilingual writers
Résumé
Une langue minoritaire peut se définir de façon générale comme une langue parlée par moins de 50 % de la population d’une région, d’un État ou d’un pays donné (Grenoble et Singerman, 2017, n.p.). Dans le présent article, je propose une définition plus contextualisée qui s’applique au domaine de la création littéraire et de l’autotraduction. Je considère ainsi une langue comme étant minoritaire lorsqu’un écrivain bilingue ou plurilingue la perçoit comme n’étant pas la langue dominante dans le contexte socioculturel et linguistique dans lequel il est actif en tant qu’auteur et (auto)traducteur. En prenant comme point de départ cette définition alternative, je traite de la pratique créative et autotraductive de l’écrivain canadien Antonio D’Alfonso. D’Alfonso est l’un des rares écrivains plurilingues qui se sentent défamiliarisés linguistiquement. Il affirme qu’au lieu d’avoir une langue maternelle il dispose d’un bagage mixte de dialecte molisano, de français, d’anglais et d’italien. Ainsi, il a tendance à écrire, à penser et à (auto-)traduire en étant immergé dans une sorte de paysage linguistique en 3D (voire en 4D) (Pivato, 2002). Vues sous cet angle, ses autotraductions du français vers l’anglais ou inversement témoignent de la façon expérimentale avec laquelle il remet en question la « soumission brute » (Whyte, 2002, p. 69) d’une langue sur une autre et surmonte tout complexe linguistique minoritaire qu’il aurait pu développer dans son parcours pour devenir un écrivain linguistiquement déraciné.
Mots-clés :
- auto-traduction,
- langue mineure,
- langue dominante,
- transculturel,
- écrivains bilingues
Appendices
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