How Algeria’s multilingualism and colonial history are obscured

Abstract

This chapter focuses on filtering and adaptation in translation into Dutch by taking a closer look at publishers’ paratexts surrounding three translated postcolonial Francophone authors from Algeria. A postcolonial framework will be used to ask whether the “otherness” is blurred in the paratexts and whether the translation of postcolonial literature is “brought home” in a monolingual, monocultural context. In using the concept “paratextual framing” (Watts 2004) an attempt will be made to answer the following question: in what way does this kind of framing shape a new image of the translated author? Translations of Assia Djebar, Malika Mokeddem and Tahar Djaout will be discussed.

Transcultural memory and literary translation: Mapping the Field (with a case study on Lydie Salvayre’s Pas pleurer and its Spanish translation)

“…And, of course, there are big differences between the policies of a multinational publishing company and a locally-rooted small publisher. Hence, the publisher’s policies, practices, and market strategies have to be taken into account; they can be examined, for example, on the basis of editorial paratexts such as book covers, blurbs or marketing material (see Schyns, 2016). Besides the publishing houses, other institutions and agents of translation, such as literary foundations or major book prizes, can have a considerable impact on translation activities—their policies should also be the subject of a study.…”