Abstract
Translation has become an indispensable tool in the era of advanced globalization. The image of translation as a bridge is frequently utilized to indicate the viability of communication between distant languages and cultures—and for a good reason. Translation as a metaphorical bridge implies passage and accessibility for both sides; the bridge suggests a stable relationship between equals who may cross to the other side freely. This chapter critically examines the stability of this attractive idea. As evidenced in contemporary translation theory and in the formal education of translators and interpreters, the bridge ultimately relies on the structural support of a second metaphor: the mother tongue. The mother tongue gives us life, raises us as children, and it is from her that we inherit the authority of native speakers as adults. However, two exemplary writers contend and question the stability of these metaphors, thus exploring the instability of linguistic and intercultural translation as practiced today. Julia Wong Kcomt and Anna Kazumi Stahl, both transpacific authors of the post-migration generation, create situations in their literary narratives where there is no parity between languages, where the mother tongue does not belong to the native speaker, and where we feel all bridges tremble beneath our feet.
[L]a idea más arraigada sigue siendo la de que la equivalencia es algo a lo que los traductores deberían aspirar, para conseguir así reproducir el original con total exactitud y precisión, sin añadidos, omisiones o distorsiones. Esta perspectiva implica, claro está, que el traductor se convierta en invisible e inaudible, y así lo constatan las múltiples metáforas e imágenes del discurso más tradicional sobre la traducción (“The most persistent idea continues to be that translators should aspire towards equivalence in order to reproduce the original with total accuracy and precision, without adding, omitting or distorting. Clearly, this view involves turning the translator invisible and inaudible, which is supported by the many metaphors and images in the more traditional discourse on translation.” All translations are mine.).
—M. Carmen África Vidal Claramonte, Traducción y asimetría, 2010: 14.
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Notes
- 1.
For example, the essays “Translation as Culture” and “Translating into English” in Spivak (2013).
- 2.
Bandia attributes the destabilization of these notions to postcolonial theory: “Postcolonial theory has had a significant impact on translation studies and has forced a rethinking of some commonly held views in translation theory by pointing out, for instance, that translation does not always take place between two stable concrete and well-defined entities, thus questioning the relevance of a relentless search for equivalence and fluency which has characterized mainstream translation theory for so long” (Bandia 2003: 140).
- 3.
“And if equivalence spells the end of translation, it also spells the death of the translator. Strong equivalence is total: it posits congruence of meaning and singularity of intent, and leaves no room for differential voices, aberrant subject positions or interpretive margins” (Hermans 2003: 40).
- 4.
For a more detailed definition and further examples of transpacific subjectivities, see Wu Fu (2018: 13).
- 5.
Tusán can be translated as “born here” and refers to descendants of Chinese migrants born in the host country. For a definition by the Peruvian initiative Tusanaje see: http://www.tusanaje.org/ser-tusan/. Interestingly enough, the organization’s logo is a bridge, and their mission statement claims to seek to build a bridge between Chinese and Peruvians.
- 6.
In Latin America generally used to refer to descendants of Japanese migrants. For further references, see the website of the Asociación Panamericana Nikkei: http://apnorg.atwebpages.com
- 7.
Compare, for example, the Universität Heidelberg’s undergraduate translation program guidelines (https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/md/sued/imstudium/leitfaden_ubw_juli2017.pdf) with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México’s translation program description (https://escolar1.unam.mx/planes/enallt/traduccion.pdf). Despite their linguistic and geographical distance, both universities structure their programs based on A, B, C languages, where the A language is described as the mother tongue and therefore the designated target language. It should be noted, however, that higher levels of education and certification often require proficiency in B-to-A translation, the purpose of which, along with the guidelines for foreign students, is intriguing but tangential to the subject at hand.
- 8.
Summarizing Mignolo’s contribution to the concept, Rojas defines bilanguaging as a way of living and of seeing the world from the margins of Western logic ingrained in the hegemonic language (Rojas 2009: 22).
- 9.
In keeping with his argument that the language one’s mother speaks is one’s mother tongue, Rojas uses the verb “amamantar,” to nurse or to breast feed, to describe the role of the words—and not the language—in the speaker’s upbringing (2009: 18)
- 10.
“está compuesta por palabras de ambos idiomas, dominante y dominado. La lengua mapuche es la de sus abuelos y la lengua en que fueron amamantados, ya que es la de sus madres, pero […] son ahora parte de una generación que no heredó el tse o el mapudungun. Sin embargo, según Dante, ésta permanece como la lengua de los afectos” (2009: 18f).
- 11.
“Tengo un ojo desviado, mi ojo izquierdo mira solo. […] Pero ni eso, ni el reflujo significaron una dolencia o un sentimiento de inferioridad. No hablar chino, sí, no poder hablar chino, me hizo el ser más infeliz de la tierra” (2015: 44f)
- 12.
“Recuerdo apenas a mi madre, recuerdo que sus intentos para que yo aprendiera chino claudicaron el día que mi padre le dijo, “ella me entiende sin hablar mucho. Ustedes hablan demasiado y no dicen nada.” Si hablara chino quizá cometería equivocaciones irreparables que no le permitirían su libertad y salir del territorio. Muchos expatriados perseguidos sufrían la angustia de que los otros quieren apoderarse un poco de China. Los japoneses han destruido nuestras casas; si ella habla chino la destruirán también. Nunca supe a ciencia cierta por qué mi padre quería sobreprotegerme” (2015: 47).
- 13.
“Asumen la neutralidad y objetividad del proceso desde una perspectiva occidental y favorece una peligrosa ingenuidad” (2010: 32).
- 14.
“Relaciones interculturales de igualdad” (2010: 36).
- 15.
“Bueno, entonces, háblele despacio, señora. Chino, japonés, da lo mismo. Si no, no la hubiéramos traído, ¿no le parece?” (1997: 158).
- 16.
“‘Perdóneme por incomodarlo. ¿Cuándo y dónde recibió las heridas?’ Con el papel en la mano, se acercó aún más al chico herido y se lo mostró. /[…] Estaba asustado, aterrorizado, y con razón. En ese instante silencioso, ella, la japonesa, ganó su confianza, y él escribió, con gran esfuerzo y dolor: ‘Nueve y media de la noche, a dos cuadras del muelle B’. /[…] La interprete tomó el papel e inclinándose hacia la luz de la lámpara, lo descifró. Después, enfrentando a los policías reportó en voz alta: ‘Las heridas que lo están haciendo sufrir tanto ahora, fueron recibidas a las veintiuna treinta a dos cuadras del muelle B’” (1997: 158f).
- 17.
Kazumi has held a TEDx Talk on this very subject, indicating that statistically, a great majority of translated books sold in Argentina are translations from English. Online source: https://youtu.be/kVuDBc5z880
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Wu Fu, PA. (2021). Fragile Bridges: Translation Theory and Translation Practices in Contemporary Transpacific Literature. In: Gasquet, A., Majstorovic, G. (eds) Cultural and Literary Dialogues Between Asia and Latin America. Historical and Cultural Interconnections between Latin America and Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52571-2_6
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