Inter-Cultural Translation and Identity Discourse in ‘Ines of My Soul’ by Isabel Allende  Cover Image

TRADUCERE INTERCULTURALĂ ŞI DISCURS IDENTITAR ÎN „INÉS A SUFLETULUI MEU” DE ISABEL ALLENDE
Inter-Cultural Translation and Identity Discourse in ‘Ines of My Soul’ by Isabel Allende

Author(s): Iulia Bobăilă
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Universitatea »1 Decembrie 1918« Alba Iulia
Keywords: historiography; cultural identity; translation; indigenous languages

Summary/Abstract: Translation as cultural mediation, the replacement of the official historiography by the plurality of discourses on history, the voice of the so-called peripheral cultures as opposed to the dominant ones are just a few of the reflections made possible by the analysis of the translation into Romanian of Isabel Allende’s novel Inés of my soul. The present paper also underlines the extent to which narration of past events has become interspersed with historical fiction or has been submitted to new interpretations, taking the example of South America, where terms such as “invasion”, “discovery”, “encounter” or “invention” have triggered a heated debate regarding the current view on the Spanish conquest of native America. The translation problems from Mapudungu, an indigenous language of central Chile, into Spanish, as well as the culture shock involved in the interaction between the conquistadors and the indigenous people in the 15th and 16th century can challenge our perspective on that historical period. The analysis of Allende’s novel also provides evidence for the shift of emphasis from the former theoretical approaches of translation towards the idea that translation is of utmost importance in the development of culture and cultural identity.

  • Issue Year: 13/2012
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 267-276
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Romanian