Of cracked lenses
Cultural translation, opacity and the African novel
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3608031 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tina Steiner (0000-0002-3083-778X, Stellenbosch University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 302-314 |
| Publication date | 2010-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Dynamics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0253-3952 • E-ISSN: 1940-7874 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02533952.2010.489332 |
| OpenAlex | W2146060449 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 15 |
This article investigates the function of different languages in African fictional texts by focusing on the kinds of social relationships expressed by narratives that tell their stories bilingually, or even multilingually. I argue that the layers of different languages within a text invite translation, both literally and figuratively. Alongside the postcolonial reading, which interprets the juxtapositions of different languages by stressing the contestatory function of re‐placing language, the reading advanced by this article explores such devices as forms of cultural translation. Cultural translation, it is argued, can account for the counter‐discursive reading that analyses relations of power; it can also account for a reading that foregrounds less hierarchical forms of address and thus expresses the quest for alternative subjectivities and relationships. The latter, the article suggests by adapting Judith Butler’s theory of an ethics of opacity, is gestured towards in narratives whenever the limits of intelligibility or translatability are exposed
Aesthetics · Art · Linguistics · Narrative · Sociology · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Philosophy · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies
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A New Generation of African Writers
The Empire Writes Back
Siting Translation
Black Skin, White Masks
Rereading the Imperial Romance
Masks of Conquest
Culture as Praxis
Giving an Account of Oneself
Giving an Account of Oneself
The Black Atlantic Meets the Indian Ocean
Language and Colonial Power
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2026 (16) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |