Postcolonial studies and translation theory

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2009.1.9
Keywords:
Postcolonial studies, Resistance, Orientalism, Politics, Culture

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Tarek Shamma

Abstract

What distinguishes postcolonial approaches to translation is that they examine intercultural encounters in contexts marked by unequal power relations. Herein lie their strengths as well as their weaknesses. Their major contribution has been to illuminate the role of power in the production and reception of translation. But it is not certain that the postcolonial framework can be applied to other interlingual exchanges with minimal inequality of power relations. Moreover, there is a general tendency to underrate the differences among (post)colonial contexts themselves. It is suggested that insufficient attention to the socio-political background of translation has been reflected in postcolonial formulations of resistance, which are typically purely textual. It is argued also that some postcolonial perspectives, rejecting reductive appropriations of other cultures, may have been led to some sort of reification of difference, reflected in a rather pessimistic insistence on the inaccessibility of the position of the Other.

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How to Cite
Shamma, T. (2014). Postcolonial studies and translation theory. MonTI. Monographs in Translation and Interpreting, (1), 183–196. https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2009.1.9
Issue
No. 1 (2009): A (Self-)Critical Perspective of Translation Theories / Una visión (auto)crítica de los estudios de traducción
Section
Articles

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