Imagining otherness: on translation, harm and border logic

ABSTRACT

Using theoretical frameworks drawn from the fields of cultural anthropology and political philosophy, this article pursues connections between disparate discussions of representation and identity politics to consider the determining role that translation plays in constructing relations of power between the translating ‘self’ and the translated ‘other’. With reference to a theatre translation case study, it argues that the act of translation subordinates the position of the other to the biographical journey of the translator. By transforming the status of a living author from one of writing subject to representational object, translation is conceptualised as a form of so-called ‘status misrecognition’ that threatens to displace the author’s agency in translation, preventing them from participating as a peer in the passage from imagination to realisation in the target language. By emphasising greater author engagement in the translation process, this article calls for the first steps in a translational ‘politics of recognition’ by which the shape of translations would be informed by an increased valorisation of the status of authors as active participants in, rather than objects of, the imaginative acts that lead to translations.

KEYWORDS:

• Theatre translation
• politics of recognition
• coevalness
• cultural anthropology
• hermeneutics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. I owe this turn of phrase to the Language Acts and Worldmaking project, which argues that language ‘is a material and historical force, not a transparent vehicle for thought. Language empowers us, by enabling us to construct our personal, local, transnational and spiritual identities; it can also constrain us, by carrying unexamined ideological baggage. This dialectical process we call “worldmaking”’ (Language Acts and World Making 2019).

2. Los amos del mundo was awarded the 2015 Calderón de la Barca prize by the Ministry of Culture through the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) in recognition of merit and to encourage the work of young dramatists.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Maitland

Sarah Maitland is Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she leads the MA in Translation and PhD in Translation and Translation by Practice. She is author of What is Cultural Translation? published by Bloomsbury Academic, as well as various articles on theatre translation and translation philosophy. Sarah is also a Memsource Certified Trainer and currently serves as Managing Editor of the Journal of Specialised Translation. As a professional theatre translator, Sarah has translated for Cuartoymitad Teatro, the Cervantes Theatre, the CASA Latin American Theatre Festival, Words without Borders magazine, and the Theatre Royal Bath, among others. She is also an active member of Out of the Wings, hosted by King’s College London, a collective of theatre-makers, researchers, translators and academics united by a shared love of theatre and the possibilities of cross-border collaboration and exchange that are released when works for the stage are translated for new audiences.