A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Self-translating: linking languages, literary traditions and cultural spheres
Authors: Heidi Grönstrand
Publisher: Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
Publishing place: Helsinki
Publication year: 2014
Journal: Collegium : Studies across Disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Volume: 15
First page : 116
Last page: 196
Number of pages: 81
Web address : https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/45246/06_GRONSTRAND_1305.pdf?sequence=1
Abstract
Self-translation, which is when an author translates his or her own texts and
the outcome is two (or more) distinct works speaking to two (or more) different
audiences, provides a useful insight into transnationalism and bordercrossings,
which are phenomena that operate outside the national, monolingual
paradigm. Self-translation is regarded as a kind of border-zone activity that
reorganises the relationships between languages and literary traditions,
challenging the monolingual assumptions of the literary institution and literary
history writing, which have been important in the construction of the modern
nation-state. This is also the case in Finland where the literary institution and
traditions have been defined by language despite the fact that Finland has two
official languages, Finnish and Swedish.
By looking more closely at the self-translations of two Finnish authors,
Kersti Bergroth (1886–1975) and Henrik Tikkanen (1924–1984), and the
strategies that are used in their texts in order to engage simultaneously in two
languages, cultural spheres, and literary traditions, I discuss self-translation
as an interpretive task that attempts to negotiate complex cultural equations
that are subject to the changing fortunes of time and place. The analysis focuses
on texts by Bergroth and Tikkanen that depict war, on their intersections and
overlaps, showing that self-translations link Finnish and Swedish-speaking
language groups and literary traditions.
Self-translation, which is when an author translates his or her own texts and
the outcome is two (or more) distinct works speaking to two (or more) different
audiences, provides a useful insight into transnationalism and bordercrossings,
which are phenomena that operate outside the national, monolingual
paradigm. Self-translation is regarded as a kind of border-zone activity that
reorganises the relationships between languages and literary traditions,
challenging the monolingual assumptions of the literary institution and literary
history writing, which have been important in the construction of the modern
nation-state. This is also the case in Finland where the literary institution and
traditions have been defined by language despite the fact that Finland has two
official languages, Finnish and Swedish.
By looking more closely at the self-translations of two Finnish authors,
Kersti Bergroth (1886–1975) and Henrik Tikkanen (1924–1984), and the
strategies that are used in their texts in order to engage simultaneously in two
languages, cultural spheres, and literary traditions, I discuss self-translation
as an interpretive task that attempts to negotiate complex cultural equations
that are subject to the changing fortunes of time and place. The analysis focuses
on texts by Bergroth and Tikkanen that depict war, on their intersections and
overlaps, showing that self-translations link Finnish and Swedish-speaking
language groups and literary traditions.
UTU Research Portal