Postcolonial literary theoreticians have spent a good amount of energy exploring the many roles of language in literature and the … More
Month: November 2011
Untranslated Words in Literary Texts
Authors frequently use words from a non-English language (often the writer’s “native” language or languages) in what appear to be … More
Ode to Translators
Translation is a way of life: to negotiate between systems, to search to understand multiple meanings, to straddle systems, to … More
Pensamiento sobre la Traducción desde el Acto
Esto me llegó a mente al traducir vários fragmentos de la obra Midnight Robber (Nalo Hopkinson, 2001). Hay que dejar … More
La Veinte, Fábula Cubana
Mi gente, escribí La Veinte cuando estudié en Cuba en el 2001. Me quedé tan impresionado con el vocabulário y … More
Último! Última persona para la veinte, dale caballeros!
One can always tell when it’s a foreigner who arrives at a Havana bus stop. From the paradas del camello, … More
Calo in Cuba
In his book, Inmigración y lengua nacional (Editorial Academia, La Habana: 1994), the renowned Cuban linguist, Sergio Valdes Bernal compiled … More
The Terreiro in Olodum
The African Brazilian Candomblé “terriero” (an open space and also a community) is a repeating word and theme in Brazilian song lyrics that … More
Terreiro: Word, Space, Action
“Terreiro” is a word from the Portuguese language that means: a large, open space, square or yard, and also refers … More
Translating Code-Sliding
The previous post on Os Doces Bárbaros explored a song that moves between Yoruba and Portuguese. That movement is part of … More