The question of language: Postcolonial translation in the bilingual collections of Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Paul Muldoon

The Irish-language poetry of Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill simultaneously defends Irish as a signifier of cultural authenticity and celebrates its fruitful cross-fertilization with other languages and their cultural cargo. Focusing on Paul Muldoon's translations of Ní Dhomhnaill, I treat the resulting bi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTranslation studies Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 277 - 292
Main Author Kirkley, Laura
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 01.09.2013
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Bilingualism
Dhomhnaill, Ni
English language
Ethics
Irish language
Muldoon, Paul
Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill
Paul Muldoon
poetry translation
Postcolonialism
Translations
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Summary:The Irish-language poetry of Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill simultaneously defends Irish as a signifier of cultural authenticity and celebrates its fruitful cross-fertilization with other languages and their cultural cargo. Focusing on Paul Muldoon's translations of Ní Dhomhnaill, I treat the resulting bilingual collections as a case study for the ethical implications of translation in a postcolonial context where Irish is under threat. I consider the case of Irish-English translation in relation to models of postcolonial translation that advocate "foreignizing" Standard English by subjecting it to the structures of source languages. I suggest that Irish-English translators remain alert to the risk of "colonizing" Irish, employing "subversive literalism" to produce bilingual editions that promote a fruitful symbiosis of the colonizing and indigenous languages.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:1478-1700
1751-2921
DOI:10.1080/14781700.2012.756214