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The “Untranslatables” as Symptoms of Difference : From a Network of Languages to a Language of Networks
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2021...
2021
The “Untranslatables” as Symptoms of Difference : From a Network of Languages to a Language of Networks
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'The purpose of this paper is to address the concern for the preservation of language difference and diversity. The threat to language diversity can be found historically in the dominance given to English and more recently, in the emergent forms of digital technologies. Their point of contact is the act of translation. In taking up Cassin’s concept of the “untranslatables”,the paper provides a critical foundation for thinking through the issue of language diversity. A focus on the translation of the bible into the Central Australian Aboriginal language of Aranda underpins how universal concepts are absorbed by the singularity of languages. In are-think of the issues raised for translation practices when they are dominated by machine translation, digital technologies have also innovated new language usage exemplified by evolving forms in text messaging and the rise of image translation formats such as emojis. This raises the question as to whether specifically designed emojis for Indigenous speakers is a threat to, or a form that preserves and extends, Indigenous languages. The paper concludes with a consideration of the value of translation in a digital world where post-truth dominates the information landscape.' (Publication abstract)
Notes
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Epigraph:
No volverá tu voz a lo que el persa
Dijo en su lengua de aves y de rosas,
Cuando al ocaso, ante la luz dispersa,
Quieras decir inolvidables cosas. (Borges 116–17)
You will never recapture what the Persian
Said in his language woven with birds and roses,
When, in the sunset, before the light disperses,
You wish to give words to unforgettable things.
“The original is unfaithful to the translation.”
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Last amended 1 Jul 2021 09:51:54
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The “Untranslatables” as Symptoms of Difference : From a Network of Languages to a Language of Networks
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