The relational identity of the translator

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a posthuman approach to the figure of the translator as a relational entity which is part of an assemblage, in this case, a non-hierarchical arrangement of texts, translator, computer, databases and dictionaries. Likewise, the act of translation itself ceases to be the transfer of meaning from one bounded language to another, becoming something more fluid and dynamic. The discussion of this approach will be illustrated with examples from the author's recent translation of a Dutch novel into English which draws on the Deleuzean concept of 'becoming woman', rather than comprehension of vocabulary and grammar. This results in an intimate and joyful engagement with the text.

Dit artikel gaat uit van een post humane benadering van de figuur van de vertaler als relationele persoon die onderdeel uitmaakt van een assemblage bestaand uit vertalers, woordenboeken, computer, pen, papier, roman in boekvorm, roman in digitale vorm. De discussie wordt gevoerd aan de hand van de vertaling van de roman Eva van de Nederlandse schrijfster Carry van Bruggen door Jane Fenoulhet.

KEYWORDS:

• Translation
• narrative
• Minority literature
• identity
• becoming
• subjectivity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Jane Fenoulhet is Emeritus Professor of Dutch Studies at UCL. Her current research focuses on Dutch literature, translation studies as well as feminist and nomadic theory. Recent publications include Eva: a novel by Carry van Bruggen. Translated and with a Commentary by Jane Fenoulhet (UCL Press, 2019, forthcoming), ‘Signs of Life. Vitalizing Literary Studies’. Journal of Dutch Literature (vol. 18, no. 2, 2017), ‘Adaptability and audience: the many publics of Etty Hillesum’. Dutch Crossing (vol. 42, 2018, no. 2), Dutch Translation in Practice (with Alison Martin, Routledge 2014).

Notes

1 For a philosophical account, see in particular A Thousand Plateaus (2013); Deleuze and Guattari (1975/1986) also use this approach to consider the writing of Kafka in Kafka.

2 The commentary ‘Becoming Eva: on translating as a woman’ will be published alongside the translated novel, Eva (Fenoulhet, 1927/2019).

3 See, for example, Claire Kramsch (2009), Chapter 3, ‘The subject-in-process’.

4 See also Deleuze and Guattari (1980/2013).

5 Braidotti uses these two terms interchangeably. See, for example, the introduction to Nomadic Theory (2011) which explains her cartographic method.

6 See also my description of the translation process in the commentary to Eva: a novel. Translated and with a Commentary by Jane Fenoulhet (Fenoulhet, 1927/2019, pp. 9–10).

7 I discuss the Dutch language and Dutch culture from this perspective in the introduction to Fenoulhet (2013).

8 Dutch is an official language in Suriname, the Dutch Caribbean islands and of course Belgium as well as the Netherlands.

9 They use them in relation to Kafka’s writing in Kafka. Toward a Minor Literature (1986, pp. 28–29).

10 See Clive Scott (2012, p. 12).