Nicole Lavigne

Nicole Lavigne
Word Warriors: A Collective Journey of Canadian Translators. Driving the Stories of Nicole Brossard. 1970-2000
(vii + 93 pp.)
2003

Thesis Supervisor / Directeur du mémoire : Candace Séguinot

"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language, and that may be the measure of our existence."

Toni Morrison

Translation is a crossroads for so many disciplines, institutions and cultures. It is precisely translation that has allowed me to combine two areas of interest: feminism and language - and the relationship between the two. Language has a measure of influence on who we are and vice versa, who we are influences the language we use. Audre Lorde once said, "The Master's tools will never dismantle the Master's house." While that may be true, translation is a tool that can be used to make some serious renovations.

A translator's background and gender affect how s(h)e deals with the challenges of translating selected experimental feminist literature of Nicole Brossard. Translation, within a socio-cultural framework, allows us to question more than word for word fidelity and the mechanical transfer of language. This thesis follows the descriptive study of translation (Gideon Toury), comparatively analyzing Un livre (A book), Amantes (Lovhers), French kiss; etreinte-exploration (French kiss; Or, A Pang's Progress), and Elle serait la première phrase de mon prochain roman (She would be the first sentence of my next novel),

The four translators studied in this thesis are: Larry Shouldice, Barbara Godard, Patricia Claxton and Susanne De Lotbinière-Harwood - all of whom share the common project of bringing Brossard's Quebec feminist literature to an English audience. It is possible that the strategies used by each translator could be affected by attributes such as gender, academia, career and creativity. It is therefore also possible that the translator's relationship to Brossard's text may be affected by her/his affinities and motivations.


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		Nicole Lavigne Word Warriors: A Collective Journey of Canadian Translators. Driving the Stories of Nicole Brossard. 1970-2000 (vii + 93 pp.) 2003 Thesis Supervisor / Directeur du mémoire : Candace Séguinot "We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language, and that may be the measure of our existence." Toni Morrison Translation is a crossroads for so many disciplines, institutions and cultures. It is precisely translation that has allowed me to combine two areas of interest: feminism and language - and the relationship between the two. Language has a measure of influence on who we are and vice versa, who we are influences the language we use. Audre Lorde once said, "The Master's tools will never dismantle the Master's house." While that may be true, translation is a tool that can be used to make some serious renovations. A translator's background and gender affect how s(h)e deals with the challenges of translating selected experimental feminist literature of Nicole Brossard. Translation, within a socio-cultural framework, allows us to question more than word for word fidelity and the mechanical transfer of language. This thesis follows the descriptive study of translation (Gideon Toury), comparatively analyzing Un livre (A book), Amantes (Lovhers), French kiss; etreinte-exploration (French kiss; Or, A Pang's Progress), and Elle serait la première phrase de mon prochain roman (She would be the first sentence of my next novel), The four translators studied in this thesis are: Larry Shouldice, Barbara Godard, Patricia Claxton and Susanne De Lotbinière-Harwood - all of whom share the common project of bringing Brossard's Quebec feminist literature to an English audience. It is possible that the strategies used by each translator could be affected by attributes such as gender, academia, career and creativity. It is therefore also possible that the translator's relationship to Brossard's text may be affected by her/his affinities and motivations.