AILC 2013 Paris: Abstracts

Several talks on self-translation are presented at the XXe Congrès de l’Association Internationale de Littérature Comparée / XXth Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association taking place from 19.07-24.7.2013 in Paris

Abstract of the conference talk by Jordana M. Greenblatt on Nathanaël:
"L'Entre-Nathanaël, le désir: Nathanaël (Nathalie Stephen)'s Queer Self-Translation"

Nathanaël (published as Nathalie Stephens) self-describes as writing "l'entre-genre." Indeed, Nathanaël writes between many things. Some French, some English, Nathanaël's texts are never entirely either; while one language generally predominates, the other almost always intervenes. Je Nathanaël, originally (mostly) French, exists under the same title in English as a work of self-translation. While the expressive and erotic potential and failures of language/s are regular foci of Nathanaël's work, the act of translation heightens these moments of comparative tension between languages and between language and/as desire. [...]


Abstract of the conference talk by Lyudmila Razumova on Huston /Makine
"What Language(s) Will World Literature(s) Speak?"

Authors, who chose to write in an acquired language or in both their L1 and L2, have problematized and shaped models of national and transnational affiliation in language. The paper will examine how writing bilingually, especially in major, supra-national languages (English, Russian, French) relates to such notions as world literature and littérature –monde en français. [...]The paper will focus on the cases of Andrei Makine and Nancy Huston, francophones by choice, who often return to their home countries thematically, but otherwise pursue very different trajectories. For instance, Huston started self-translating nearly all her work, while Makine relies on other translators. [...]


Abstract of the conference talk by Anastasija Gjurcinova
"Translation and Self-translation in Today's Migration Literature"

Today’s migration literature in Europe is a phenomenon that offers many new opportunities for comparative literature research. The idea of this paper is to examine whether migrant authors use to write in their mother tongue, and then translate (or get translated) their works into the language of adoption, or whether they prefer writing their literary works directly in the adopted language, performing a very particular way of self-translation. Those topics are going to be elaborated using the examples from several Italian migrant authors, such as the Algerian Amara Lakhous, the Albanian Gezim Hajdari and the Bosnian Bozidar Stanisic. [...]


Abstract of the conference talk by Wen-chin Ouyang
"Speaking to Multilingualism of the Reader"

Haifa Zangana’s prison memoirs have taken shape in the interstices of writing, translation and rewriting in a period of twenty-three years. [...] A comparative analysis of these texts shows that self-translation, as a way of engaging with the multilingualism of the reader, is an integral part of writing. This, especially the slippage of multilingualism between writerly and readerly texts, must have an impact on the interpretive process. [...]


Abstract of the conference talk by  F. Vosloo
"Translating the Abject: Antjie Krog as Writer-Translator"

[...] This paper addresses the notion of self-translation as “the writer’s double” (Wilson 2009), looking into self-translation as textual and cultural translation – an integral part in the construction of identity and subjectivity. Internationally acclaimed South African author and poet Antjie Krog writes in Afrikaans, her mother tongue, translates her own work into English and translates others’ work (Dutch and Flemish) into Afrikaans. [...]


Abstract from the conference talk by Loredana Polezzi
"From Neo-Realism to Self-Translation: The Novels of Giose Rimanelli" 

[...] After migrating to America, Rimanelli continued to write in an apparently similar vein. Yet starting at least from the 1970s his work abandoned realist models, favouring instead explicit (and often extreme) forms of generic hybridity and polylingualism, bordering on glossolalia and posited on practices of self-translation. [...]


To read the full abstracts, please click here.

Self-Translation in Drama Asymptote: Interview with Chantel Bilodeau

Bilodeau on self-translation: "I am not convinced I would do it again"

The July issue of Asymptote journal has a special feature on self-translation which includes an interview with the Canadian playwright Chantel Bilodeau conducted by Caridad Svich. The interview focuses on her play Pleasure & Pain which she translated herself from English into French.
Chantel Bilodeau describes the difficulties she encountered while translating her own play: "I felt like a hamster running around and around in a wheel but never getting anywhere".  To read the full interview, please click here.

14th update of the bibliography on self-translation

The 14th update of the bibliography on self-translation, which includes over 80 new entries, is now available.

I would like to kindly ask you to leave the bibliographic references as a comment on this post, when you give a talk, publish an article or even a book on self-translation, so that the bibliography can be as complete as possible. To download the bibliography, please click here.