Bilingual Writing and Self-Translation: Literature in a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Module code: FR3051

Our world today is increasingly multilingual and this module looks at the ways in which literary writers incorporate different languages in their work. We examine the reasons why authors choose to write in more than one language in light of their individual and socio-cultural context. We explore a range of case-studies and focus in particular on authors who translate their own work between French and English, looking at the relationships between both versions of their text. We also compare the strategies used in self-translations to those used in other translation practices.

Topics covered

• The concept of self-translation
• Literary bilingualism
• Language and power
• Cross-cultural perspectives on selected case-studies
• Translation shifts, strategies and norms
• Heterolingualism and translation
• Self-translation between French and English
• Current issues in self-translation