Reclamation and Revolution: Translation as a Catalyst for Change
Since coalescing into a formal discipline in the 1970s, Translation Studies has both hinged upon and facilitated conversations about power. For better or for worse, the movement of a text from one form into another necessitates reflection upon hierarchy, periphery, and justice. From Spivak's native informant, to Chamberlain's feminist critiques of canonical translation theory, to Venuti's identification of translation as a seeking of utopia, analyses of the connection between (dis)empowerment and translation abound. However, what happens to and with translation when disempowered actors seek agency? How can translation be examined, utilized, and conceptualized when disempowerment demands revolution?