Beyond the Mono-Cultural Mind ‘Translating’ English Studies

摘要

The article considers the purpose and scope of English Studies in the academy today. English in South Africa has been characterised as a British-colonial legacy. English, however, in its literary dimension is not only the home of Shakespeare, but also the home of world literature, whether in the western classics (in translation) or, more recently (in translation), Afrikaans or isiXhosa literature, or the oral praises of the great Zulu kings. Is English Studies, therefore, a translated discipline? If so, what are the challenges? The argument investigates interdisciplinary links between translation/intercultural studies and English studies. It emphasises a cultural, rather than linguistic, approach, in which translators are mediators and image-makers, rather than imitators. It also points to the value of contrastive text analysis (between English and another language) as an initiation into how texts are socially constructed, translated, or re-constructed. What is advocated is not a dismissal, but a re-reading, of older traditions in English literature. The route to the wider, more linguistically and culturally various world to which we may lay a claim is via translation.View full textDownload full textKeywordsEnglish studies, cultural translation, multicultural contextsRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1013929X.2011.572340