Gender, genetics, translation: Encounters in the Feminist Translator's Archive of Barbara Godard
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52034/lanstts.v14i0.365Keywords:
genetic criticism, gender, translation, feminist theory, Barbara GodardAbstract
The article demonstrates the usefulness of textual genetics in corroborating the dynamic, process-oriented concepts of translation developed by feminist translation theorists. Focusing on the Canadian scholar and translator Barbara Godard, the paper examines her translation manuscripts of Nicole Brossard’s L’Amèr: ou le chapitre effrité (1977) and Amantes (1980), published in English as These Our Mothers (1983) and Lovhers (1986). The author argues that genetic analysis has the potential to challenge conventional understandings of translation as a linear transfer of meaning in the exchange of equivalences and that genetics can supply evidence that translation is a multidirectional, recursive and dialogical process of thought and transformation, a creative combination rather than a transparent substitution of meaning. The graphic markings, layerings, and inscriptions on the archival drafts reveal complex intersubjective and interdiscursive foldings at the heart of translation and expose translation as a series of temporal re-readings. They bring into view different encounters and relationalities and reaffirm the view of translation as a cultivation of friendship and collaboration.
References
Arrojo, R. (1995). Feminist, ‘orgasmic’ theories of translation and their contradictions.” TradTerm, 2, 67–75.
Bellemin-Noël, J. (2004). Psychoanalytic reading and the avant-texte. In J. Deppman, D. Ferrer, & M. Groden (Eds.), Genetic criticism: Texts and avant-textes (pp. 28–35). Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania University Press.
Brossard, N. (1977). L’amèr, ou le chapitre effrité. Montreal, QC: Les Editions Quinze.
Brossard, N. (1980). Amantes. Montreal, QC: Les Quinze.
Brossard, N. (1983). These our mothers, or: The disintregrating chapter. B. Godard (Translated into English original L’amèr, ou le chapitre effrité, 1977). Toronto, ON: Coach House.
Brossard, N. (1986). Lovhers. B. Godard (Translated into English original Amantes, 1980). Montreal, QC: Guernica.
Brossard, N. (2004). Intimate journal or here’s a manuscripts followed by works of flesh and metonymies. Barbara Godard (Translated into English original Journal intime, ou voilá donc un manuscrit, 1984). Toronto, ON: Mercury.
Capperdoni, A. (2014). 1989: The heyday of feminist translational poetics in Canada: Tessera’s Spring Issue on La traduction au féminin comme écriture.” In K. Mezei, S. Simon, & L. von Flotow (Eds.), Translation effects: The shaping of modern Canadian culture (pp. 223–237.) Montreal, QC: McGill-Queens University Press.
Contat, M., Hollier, D., & Neefs, J. (Eds.). (1996). Drafts. Special issue of Yale French Studies 89.
de Biasi, P.-M. (2004). Toward a science of literature: Manuscript analysis and the genesis of the work. In J. Deppman, D. Ferrer, & M. Groden (Eds.), Genetic criticism: Texts and avant-textes (pp. 36–68). Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania University Press.
Deppman, J., Ferrer, D., & Groden, M. (Eds.). (2004). Introduction: A genesis of French genetic criticism. In J. Deppman, D. Ferrer, & M. Groden (Eds.), Genetic criticism: Texts and avant-textes (pp. 1–16.) Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Ellenwood, R. (2014). Personal interview with the author. Toronto, April 5, 2014.
Flotow, L. von. (1991). Feminist translation: Contexts, practices, theories. TTR, 4(2), 69–84.
Godard, B. (2000). Deleuze and translation. Parallax, 6(1), 56–81.
Godard, B. (2004). Introduction: The moving intimacy of language. In N. Brossard, Intimate Journal (pp. 5-23.).
Godard, B. (1983). Preface. In N. Brossard (Ed.), These our mothers, or, the disintegrating chapter (p. 1). Toronto, ON: Coach House.
Godard, B. (1986). Preface. In N. Brossard (Ed.), Lovhers (pp. 7–12). Montreal, QC: Guernica.
Godard, B. (1990). Theorizing feminist discourse/translation. In S. Bassnett & A. Lefevere (Eds.), Translation, history and culture (pp. 87 –96). London: Pinter.
Godard, B. (1991). Translating (with) the speculum. TTR, 4(2), 85–121.
Godard, B. (1985). The translator as she: The relationship between writer and translator. In A. Dybikowski, V. Freeman, D. Marlatt, B. Pulling, & B. Warland (Eds.), In the feminine: Women and words/Les femmes et les mots (pp. 193–198.) Edmonton, AB: Longspoon.
Godard, B. (1995). A translator’s journal. In S. Simon (Ed.), Culture in transit: Translating the literature of Quebec (pp. 69–82). Montreal, QC: Véhicule.
Godard, B. (1997). Writing between cultures. TTR, 10(1), 53–99.
Godard, B. (Ed.). (1994). Collaboration in the feminine: Writing on women and culture from TESSERA. Toronto, ON: Second Story.
Karpinski, E. C. (2011). Re-membering thinking through translation. Open Letter, 14(6), 122–130.
Kinderman, W. (2009). Introduction: Genetic criticism and the creative process. In W. Kinderman & J. E. Jones (Eds.), Genetic criticism and the creative process: Essays from music, literature, and theater (pp. 1–16.) Rochester, NY: Univesity of Rochester Press.
Mezei, K. (2006). Transformations of Barbara Godard. In A. Whitfield (Ed.), Writing between the lines: Portraits of Canadian Anglophone translators (pp. 203–224). Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Simon, S. (1996). Gender in translation: Cultural identity and the politics of transmission. New York, NY: Routledge.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 Deed that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. The material cannot be used for commercial purposes.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
