A Collision of Cultures: Translating the ‘Two Faces’ of Senegal Georgina Collins 15 October 2009

to relate the concepts ‘East’ and ‘West’ to Senegal to examine related, seemingly ‘bipolar’ categories to investigate the translator’s need to understand the multi-faceted nature of Senegal to link this to the translator as mediator to question Western ideologies and literary norms to break down stereotypes and assumptions that define ‘developing’ countries such as Senegal Objectives

Key themes  a culture of change  power games  issues of gender  hybridity, mediation and local languages  the influence of orature Resources  source texts  theories and models  primary research My thesis

a perpetually evolving concept dated perspective: West often implying modernity and capitalism East frequently related to tradition and socialism no longer possible to make such a binary judgement East and West

African tradition – Western modernity Senegal – the Coloniser Islam – Christianity Northern region – Southern Casamance French – Wolof Male – Female Orature – Literature Independence – Assimilation Bipolar categories

“This specific use of colonial languages to express African sociocultural reality is neither the result of an entirely foreignizing nor a domesticating strategy. Rather, it is the product of a search for a compromise between African and European language expression, a middle passage, a blend of source and target language translation strategies, fine-tuned and adapted to deal with the linguistic and cultural hybridity, or métissage, characteristic of the postcolonial text” (Bandia, Translation 5) A multi-faceted Senegal

postcolonial texts have already been translated (Bandia) the translator of the postcolonial text must be multilingual and multicultural (not bi-) and must work with her own cultures/languages to what extent should she become a piece of the work she is translating? Translation and mediation

“A translated text, whether prose or poetry, fiction or nonfiction, is judged acceptable by most publishers, reviewers, and readers when it reads fluently, when the absence of any linguistic or stylistic peculiarities makes it seem transparent, giving the appearance that it reflects the foreign writer’s personality or intention or the essential meaning of the foreign text – the appearance, in other words, that the translation is not in fact a translation, but the ‘original’” (Venuti, Translator’s 1) Colonising the text

Venuti – current usage, continuous syntax, precise meaning Semantic translation – aesthetic value, cultural understanding Senegalese writing: fluency in translation = compromise on details of the source text adhering to non-standard nature of source text can be mistaken for the translator’s visibility The translator’s visibility

“There is no escaping the subversive nature of the use of a non-standard language, which is almost always directed against the prevailing norm. When translated into a dominant language, however, the very nature of that political act is also transformed” (Collie, Patois 181). Non-standard language

translating a patois: the quality of language may be reduced or flattened In Senegal: a language variant a danger of diminishing language quality in translation “a distortion of the cultural fields of force” the translator – live and learn multiple cultures and non-standard languages Translating non-standard languages

“The first, the abrogation or denial of the privilege of ‘English’ involves a rejection of the metropolitan power over the means of communication. The second, the appropriation and reconstitution of the language of the centre, the process of capturing and remoulding the language to new usages, marks a separation from the site of colonial privilege” (Ashcroft, Empire 37) Postcolonial writing strategies

“We need to find out how to translate the cultural capital of other civilisations in a way that preserves at least part of their own nature, without producing translations that are so low on the entertainment factor that they appeal only to those who read for professional reasons” (Lefevere, Where 11) Preserving cultural capital

French translation tradition interlingual translation dates back to 11 th century Dolet burned at the stake for mistranslating Plato 16 th century - translation credited for introducing new words / debates on the creativity of translation African translation tradition the griot – mediating between kings and people, narrating history and culture creative interpretation, flexible original drum language, tone, rhythm, pictoral signs translated into written language Translation traditions

French translation tradition recently – faithfulness, foreignisation, ST/TT balance translator/author important, high output of translated texts African translation tradition hindered by slavery and colonial past translation poorly paid many under-qualified practitioners In Senegal excess of professional translators Cheikh Anta Diop – highly respected translator Translation traditions

move away from ‘Western’ tradition and trends lack of regulations and restrictions means African linguists were ‘ahead of their time’ an inter-media approach to the representation of the voice the fluctuating nature of the original text a more relaxed approach to the rewriting of texts in Senegal – respect comes from ingenuity not ‘rigid fidelity’ to rules/regulations Western ideologies and norms

multiplicity of cultures/languages in postcolonial texts depart from traditional translation theory based on binary oppositions translator – multilingual and multicultural embrace non-standard nature of the TT ignoring cultural layering = flattening in language quality translator – preserve cultural capital move beyond Western ideologies / a less rigid approach Conclusions

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