Translation, Gender, Nation: towards a theory and practice of feminist translation studies

Authors

  • Olga Castro

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14456/nvts.2011.7

Keywords:

Galician feminist translation studies, Galician women authors translated, Galician women translators, gender and translation in Galician Studies, non-sexist language in translation, third paradigm of feminist translation, women authors translated into Galician

Abstract

Translation today is a crucial activity for understanding contemporary cultures and societies. The omnipresence of translation in this global village invariably has political and ideological consequences. The starting point of my project is the significance of the theory and practice of translation in the processes of social construction, an issue that has been thoroughly analysed from different perspectives in academic research in Translation Studies. Adding a new dimension, I am specifically interested in exploring the political role of translation in the construction of gender and cultural/national identities in the Galician context.

This aim leads me to critically intertwine the three fields of inquiry crucial to this study, namely, Translation Studies, Feminist Theory and Galician Studies (chapter 1). I start by arguing that, although Galician Translation Studies and Galician Feminist Theory are benefiting from greater recognition, at present there is little dialogue between them. My project is then set out with the general claim that it is necessary to articulate new avenues of dialogue that facilitate a common ground for feminism and translation in Galicia. In order to do so, I identify the main debates on translation within Galician Studies – which have given a prominent place to aspects of language, literature and history as institutional channels for the normalization of the minority and minorized Galician culture – and approach them from a feminist perspective, applying and evaluating some of the most fruitful discussions defining the field of gender and translation at an international level since the 1970s.

As such, my research goes in three directions, which are explored in the following chapters of my thesis: first, the historiography of translation and the role of Galician women translators inthe re/construction of the Galician history (chapter 2); second, the paths of literary reception/exportation through translation and the contributions of women authors translated into and from the Galician literary system (chapter 3); and thirdly, I analyse translation proper as a purely interlinguistic practice, complementing the debates posed by the so-called ‘cultural turn’ in Translation Studies with those put forward by the discipline of Critical Discourse Analysis (chapter 4). Such complementarity leads me to conclude that, in the context of transnational debates of the current world, it is highly appropriate to articulate a third paradigm of feminist translation, which would consist of applying a third wave feminism and feminist linguistics (Mills 2008) to translation, so as to overcome the limitations of the first and second paradigm as repeatedly proposed by Luise von Flotow (1999, 2007). Taking into account the significant role that an inclusive and non-sexist Galician target language plays in the perception of reality, I end up by presenting some theoretical and practical notes for a (third wave) feminist English-Galician translation, highlighting the active and self-critical role of translators in all decision-making processes (chapter 5).

All in all, this allows me to conclude that such an intersection between Translation, Feminism and Galician Studies is mutually beneficial for all fields of inquiry – not only does it contribute to the development of global debates on gender and translation with a vision from minority cultures in the First World, but it also contributes to the development of critical discourses on translation as a tool for the normalization of minority cultures with a view to considering how all social processes are conditioned by gender. Therefore, it is my contention that outlining the notion of ‘Galician Feminist Translation Studies’ will ultimately strengthen the view of translation as a political tool with which to normalise egalitarian gender relations in the very process of normalising the Galician culture.

 

Author Biography

  • Olga Castro

    Aston University, U.K.

     

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Published

2023-04-04

Issue

Section

Abstracts of PhD Theses

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