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1 Re-mapping translation
Queerying the crossroads
Shalmalee Palekar
My chapter focuses on the nexus between translation, postcolonial and queer studies. Specifically, I shall be re-examining translation practices by foregrounding the perspectives of queer translators as well as dynamic, queer textual tactics in postcolonial (and particularly Indian) texts/contexts. Such tactics might entail âdiscoveringâ or âexhumingâ texts considered queer in our contemporary understanding of the term; or examining how (primarily Western) queer theory is being translated and retranslated across various cultural contexts to codify a kind of globalized queerness; or of tracing how queer writing might work in repressive societies that engage in censorship.
At the same time the effects of neo/imperialism, neoliberalism and globalization should not be underestimated. Queer researchers from postcolonizing societies are increasingly wary of the ways in which US-centric ideas of what constitutes queerness are becoming tools of âlegitimizationâ and in turn, neo-imperialist control. Culturally specific literary practices and communities are often appropriated and decontextualized by researchers in search of proof of a globally legible and transparently translatable queer experience/identity. The work of postcolonial queer translators is thus crucial in crafting lexical and methodological strategies of resistance that might allow for more productive engagements with local modes of queer life. When framing/translating queer communities and cultures, then, it is unwise to reject all queer theory as an instrument of imperialistic hegemony on the basis of a crude Western/non-Western binary. Rather, it is vital to construct a hybrid queer theory which is capable of accommodating local specificities and pluralities.
Translation of queer theory/experiences and translation as identity construction
A common question facing queer translators across the postcolonial/neocolonial spectrum is the question of translating âglobalâ (read US-centric) articulations of queer identities and communities into and onto the âlocalâ subjects that concern them, without setting up simplistic binaries of foreign/native, Western/non-Western, and while also not ignoring the effects of neo-imperial and neoliberal forces. Maria Viteriâs (2008) study of the Latino LGBT community living in Washington, DC between 2004 and 2006 is a case in point. Viteri points out that
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Viteriâs idea of translation connects the concept of âborder thinkingâ with a methodological bilingualism in which all the original informant text is in Spanish followed by Viteriâs own translation of it into English. Viteri contends that this technique
Queerying translation can also be seen as part of an active construction of queer identity/ies across different cultural contexts. Translators often ask the question, âWhat happens when localized representations of âcampâ and âgay identityâ are translated?â In one such study, Cristiano Mazzei (2007) reads three novels originally written in Brazilian Portuguese that explore the gay-male subculture in Brazil, and examines the issues translators face in interpreting sexuality/gender subversions. He also looks at how well translators have captured the âcampinessâ of the source texts, and analyses how queer camp responds to the process of translation. He then goes on to imagine a future for queer translation studies:
Considering the same idea, Roland WeiĂegger (2011) also interrogates the degree to which translators take part in the construction of identities. Drawing on Butlerâs (2006) theory that neither grammar nor style is apolitical, WeiĂegger debunks the âneutrality mythâ in translation studies, arguing strongly that translation is neither an innocent nor a powerless act. In order to textually underline the point, the author uses the term âoqâ as both a personal pronoun and an âall-purpose ending for nouns describing peopleâ (2011: 164) and continues: âBy submitting to certain hegemonic discourses, translatoqs construct identities according to these hegemonic views (and possibly influence these views themselves)â (2011: 169).
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The problem of translating the concepts of a âgayâ identity/community has exercised many scholars. Keith Harvey explores the theoretical and ethnographic aspects of the issue. He examines both the theoretical underpinnings of âqueerâ and the ethnographic implications of the âgay communityâ, drawing on the work of Carol Warren (Harvey 2000: 145). One of Harveyâs key concerns is whether âgay writingâ suffers a âtranslation deficitâ in certain cultures (2000: 147). Drawing on his own experiences as a young gay man in Britain, reading translated versions of French authors such as Genet, Gide and Proust, Harvey contends that without access to such translations he would probably have struggled to find âhomosexual voicesâ, since he was not aware of other contemporary sources of âgay fictionâ like that emerging in the US. He also points to the importance of these texts having a âcanonical statusâ and so gaining legitimacy or respectability for a young man coming to terms with his identity. Harvey further recounts that âthe translated text was queer in every sense of the word, and I could use its queerness in the formative process of imagining a community above language and cultural differencesâ (p. 150). And he concludes by affirming that
But what does âqueerâ mean?
The problematics of the translation of specific terms and the shifts in their referents can also be implicated in the issues of appropriation and a âhierarchy of legitimacyâ. While this is most commonly found in societies which are seen as âregressiveâ in terms of the contemporary queer rights movements in the West, it also seems to follow a hierarchy of language use. These aspects are seen in three different studies revolving around the translation of the term âqueerâ and by extension queer theory, across Taiwan, Finland and Canada.
Song Hwee Limâs âHow to be Queer in Taiwan: Translation, Appropriation and the Construction of a Queer Identity in Taiwanâ, for instance, discusses the fact that one of the words for âqueerâ in Taiwan is kuâer; coined by a âradical intellectual journalâ in 1994. The term has specific implications for Taiwanese queer identity. It is a compound term consisting of the Chinese characters ku (meaning âcruelâ, âcoldâ and also âveryâ or âextremelyâ) and er (meaning âchildâ, âyoungsterâ or âsonâ).1 And Lim considers the impact the translated meaning has on Taiwanese discourses of same-sex sexualities, asking the question, âWhat does queer theory teach us about Taiwan?â (2008: 235).
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In order to answer this question, Lim first considers the early 1990s terms for same-sex sexualities in the Chinese language; then the effect of translating queer to kuâer and the politics of translation and appropriation and finally the construction of hybrid queer identities in Taiwan. He links the emergence of the term kuâer with the proliferation of popular âqueerâ publications, and the subsequent competition between them to capture readersâ attention:
Lim also considers hybridity, arguing that the connotation of âcoolnessâ associated with kuâer does not translate back to queer (2008: 243). Fran Martin (2003) considers the same processes particularly in terms of how the mix of Chinese and English in Taiwan has led to a kind of âcultural translationâ (2003: 3) drawing on the nuances of both languages.
In the case of Finland, Joanna Mizielinksa (2006) asks questions equivalent to Limâs: âhow does âqueerâ function in the Finnish language and reality? Does it have its equivalent translation? And if it remains un-translated, what does it mean or what does it mask? How does it change when it is introduced in the Finnish context? Does it capture something in the Finnish reality that had not been noticed before? In the second part of this chapter, I will consider the American character of queer theory and to what extent it can be transposed into different cultural contexts in general, and into the Finnish context in particularâ (Mizielinksa 2006: 88).
Mizielinksa uses Finnish translations of âqueerâ as a starting point for asking Finnish queer activists/scholars about the place of English in the queer academic movement in Finland. She finds that one of the local effects of using the English term is that it endows queer theory with an aura of safety and respectability (âbetter, more sophisticated, and internationalâ (2006: 90)) in an academic context. Ultimately she challenges and queries the dominance of American scholarship in the queer field, asking why the US model of queer life still remains the most influential even in those European countries which far outstrip it in terms of progressive legislation regarding sexual minorities (2006: 101). Clearly then the influence of US-centric queer theory is bound up with the use of English and is seen as having a deterministic impact even in spaces that are âliberatedâ and âprogressiveâ.
Finally, Michela Baldo (2008) focuses on the translative meanings of the word âqueerâ in the post-migratory setting of Italian-Canadian and Italian-North American women writers. She considers âtranslation as a form of displacementâ for the writers she discusses, using as examples specific Italian-Canadian texts and especially those printed in Curraggia, a literary journal founded by and for Italian women living in North America. Theorizing the journal as a space in which these women can explore their (often transgressive) identities, Baldo contends that âthe writing of Curraggia, like Italian-Canadian writing, revolves around a cultural and linguistic translation which is fundamental in this revisiting of the concept of queerâ (2008: 43).
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On the basis of specific close textual readings of poems and stories in the journal, Baldo also coins the term âtransqueerâ in order to explain how âqueer and translation participate in the ânarrative constructionâ of these women writersâ (Baldo 2008: 56). Accordingly, translation is a key theme in the journal as a whole, not just in terms of language but also in terms of experience. The miscommunication between generations, for instance, is a result of a gap in both these aspects of the womenâs lives and results in a âconstant process of translation that seeks to enable communicationâ.
Tracing and erasing the queer: translation as both interventionist and repressive
The above examples notwithstanding, the role of queer translators in highlighting the queer potentialities of texts is as yet under-researched but holds the potential of opening up some intriguing questions. Kieran OâDriscoll (2008) considers one such case: the translation of Jules Verneâs Around the World in Eighty Days (1873/1995) by William Butcher. OâDriscoll points out that the ânature of translatorial self-inscription and creativity may include an original deconstruction of a source text, indeed, a radical reinterpretation of the sameâ (2008: 1). Butcherâs translation does just such a reinterpretation, taking into account Verneâs life history, the original manuscripts of the novel (before they were censored by their publisher Hetzel), as well as textual analysis. OâDriscoll examines in detail Butcherâs strategies of accentuating a sexual and at times particularly gay subtext in the novel and ultimately concludes that Butcher knowingly âoverdidâ the homosexual references. Nonetheless, for OâDriscoll, Butcher still offers a very useful case study of the potential methodology that other queerious translators might use. He notes:
Conversely, the process of translation can also lead to an erasure of the queerness of both texts and authors, sometimes due to direct censorship and sometimes to the queerphobic biases of a particular translator. Deborah Giustini (2015) sets out to explore this aspect of translation with specific close attention paid to lesbian writers. Drawing on translations of Sapphoâs works, Giustini illustrates how the renowned âlover of womenâ has been retranslated into a heterosexual paradigm. In particular, the editing of the pronouns in the 1652 translation of Fragment 31 by John Hall of Durham is examined (2015: 16). She also looks at Simone de Beauvoirâs Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex) because it âhas given rise to a good range of gender and lesbian-conscious translation criticismâ. Giustini explains how translations (particularly one by Parshley) obliterate any references to a âtabooâ lesbian relationship (2015: 17â18).
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Giustini then tracks the beginnings of feminist translation works in English Canada in the 1980s as a direct response to the avant-garde work of Quebecker radical feminist writers in the 1970s. She traces the impetus behind these works to a âdesire to build transcultural bridges between womenâ. She further maintains that the application of these practices to both heteronormative and queer texts could result in âproductiveâ examples of queer translation. She notes that while it is important to rigorously contextualize practices of oppression, queer(ying) translators can learn a lot from subversive feminist translation t...