Practice is Theory: Developing Translation Theory through the Practice of Literary Translation скачать в хорошем качестве

Practice is Theory: Developing Translation Theory through the Practice of Literary Translation

Sheela Mahadevan (King's College London) Divides between Theory and Practice in Translation Studies continue to persist, despite Susan Bassnett’s recent statement ‘that there needs to be more thought given to linking theory with practice’ (2013: 164). Addressing this issue, this paper explores how literary translation may be used to develop translation theory both within the space of fiction, and through the process of translating fiction, in relation to the Indian Francophone novel Carnet Secret de Lakshmi (2018) by Ari Gautier. The paper employs a two-fold methodology. Firstly, through close reading and analysis of the novel, the intersections between translation theory and practice within the novel are explored. Secondly, the paper illustrates how the process of translating the novel into English may be employed to reconfigure existing translation theories. The paper firstly argues that Gautier illustrates and develops a theory of ‘transcreation’, an Indian mode of translation, through the practice of transcreation within the space of the novel, in which he translates and transforms Sanskrit mythology. The boundaries between creative writing, translation and theoretical writing thus appear fluid. The paper secondly illustrates how the practice-research methodology of translating the novel into English sheds new light on the process of translating multilingual poetics and additionally illuminates the undertheorized processes and politics of translating between two rival colonial tongues, French and English, in the postcolonial Indian context. In light of this process, the paper explores how existing translation theories may be reconfigured. Through reflection on the practice of literary translation, the paper demonstrates that translation is a highly effective tool which may be employed more extensively in the future to theorise translation processes. Furthermore, it argues that the future translation theorist will benefit from analysing how translational writers of fiction illustrate and develop their own translation theories through practice within the site of fiction.