Cover not available
Article published In:
Translating Creolization
Edited by Desrine Bogle, Ian Craig and Jason F. Siegel
[Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 2:2] 2016
► pp. 220–240

Translation of Creole in Caribbean English literature

The case of Oonya Kempadoo

| The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados
This paper explores the use of Creoles in Caribbean English Literature and how it tends to be translated into Spanish by analyzing the Spanish translations of two novels written by Caribbean author, Oonya Kempadoo. Kempadoo is a relatively new and unknown author. She was born in England to Guyanese parents and grew up in the Caribbean. She lived in several of the islands, including St. Lucia and Trinidad and at present resides in Grenada. Apart from being a novelist, she is a freelance researcher and consultant in the arts, and works with youth and international organizations, where she focuses on social development.
Her first novel, Buxton Spice, was published in 1998. Described as a semi-autobiography by Publisher’s Weekly, it has also been praised for being original and universal in the portrayal of its themes. It is the story of a young girl growing up in Guyana during the Burnham regime. It is written as a series of vignettes, which contributes to the seemingly quick development of Lula from childhood to adolescence, as she learns to explore her sexuality. This novel has been published in the United Kingdom and the United States, and has been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese and Hebrew. The version used for this investigation was translated by Victor Pozanco and commissioned by Tusquets Publishers.
Kempadoo’s second novel, Tide Running, also forms part of this investigation. As the 2002 winner of the Casa de las Américas Literary prize for Caribbean English and Creole, this novel was translated into Spanish by a Cuban translator as a part of the award. It is the story of an unambitious Tobagonian youth who becomes entangled in a bizarre relationship with an interracial couple. The story highlights several issues, such as poverty, race and social class differences, sex and right and wrong. As a researcher, I felt that it would be enlightening to see how a Caribbean translator, from a country (Cuba) with limited access to mass cultural currents commonplace elsewhere, handles this piece of prose which is so heavily steeped in Trinbagonian culture.
Keywords: Creole, Culture bound elements, Translation, Caribbean, Literature
Published online: 31 December 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.2.2.03nil
References (30)
Adejunmobi, Moradewun. 1998. “Translation and Postcolonial Identity: African Writing and European Languages.” The Translator 4 (2):163–181. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Akai, Joanne. 2001. “Creole...English: West Indian Writing as Translation.” Érudit 10 (1): 165–195.Google Scholar
Allsopp, Jeannette. 2003. The Caribbean Multilingual Dictionary of Flora, Fauna and Foods in English, French, French Creole and Spanish. Jamaica: Arawak Publications.Google Scholar
Allsopp, Richard. 2002. Guyana Talk: Early Essays in the Study of a Caribbean Creole. Barbados: Carlex Language Consultancy.Google Scholar
. 2003. Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage. Jamaica: UWI Press.Google Scholar
Baker, Mona. 2011. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Craig, Ian. 2006. “Translation in the Shadow of Giants: Anglophone Caribbean Vernacular in a Translated Literary Text.” The Translator 12 (1): 65–84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dracius, Suzanne. 2011. “Translatability of Works: Developing Bilingual Editions.” Presentation at the 2nd International Congress of Caribbean Writers , Guadeloupe, April 6-9, 2011.
Dimitrova, Birgitta Englund. 2004. “Orality, literacy, reproduction and translation of dialect.” In Dialektübersetzung und Dialekte in Multimedia [ Dialect Translation and Dialects in Multimedia ], ed. by Irmeli Helin, 121–139. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Kempadoo, Oonya. 1998. Buxton Spice. NY: Plume.Google Scholar
. 1999. El Árbol de los Sentidos: colección andanzas [orig. Buxton Spice]. Translated by Victor Pozanco. Barcelona: Tusquets Editores.Google Scholar
. 2001. Tide Running. London: Picador.Google Scholar
. 2002. Mar de Fondo [orig. Tide Running]. Translated by Osmany Oduardo. Havana: Fondo Editorial Casa de las Américas.Google Scholar
. 2011. “Why I Write What I Write, and How I Write.” Presentation at the Iowa City Public Library and the International Writing Program Panel Series , 28 October. 2011.
. 2010-2013. “Re: Research.” Email message to author, 5 May 2010, 19 March 2011, 7-26 March 2013.Google Scholar
. 2010. In discussion with the author, April 2010.Google Scholar
Landers, Clifford E. 2001. Literary Translation: A Practical Guide. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Larson, Mildred.1984. Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Mühlhäusler, Peter. 1997. Pidgin and Creole Linguistics: Expanded and Revised Edition. London: University of Westminster Press.Google Scholar
Newmark, Peter. 1987. A Textbook of Translation. New York: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
. 1991. Approaches to Translation. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Paz, Octavio. 1999. “Translation: Literature and Letters”. In Theories of Translation, ed. by Rainer Schulte and John Biguenet, 152–162. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Poyatos, Fernando. 2008. Textual Translation and Live Translation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Raguet, Christine. 1995. “West Indian Voices in Translation.” In Functional Approaches to Culture and Translation: Selected Papers by José Lambert, ed. by Theresa Hyun and José Lambert, 1–13. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ramchand, Kenneth. 1988. “West Indian Literary History: Literariness, Orality and Periodization.” Callaloo 341: 95–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rickford, John. 1987. Dimensions of a Creole Continuum. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Senior, Olive. 2011a. “Translatability of Works: Developing Bilingual Editions.” Presentation at the 2nd International Congress of Caribbean Writers . Guadeloupe. April 6-9, 2011.
. 2011b. In discussion with the author, April 2011.Google Scholar
Walcott, Derek. 1973. Another Life. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner Publishers.Google Scholar
Warner-Lewis, Maureen. 1994. “Language Use in West Indian Literature.” In A History of Literature in the Caribbean Vol. 2: English- and Dutch-Speaking Regions, ed. by James A. Arnold, 25–40. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Del Valle Idárraga, Mónica María
2017. Apuntes preliminares: El creol y la traducción literaria en el Gran Caribe. Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción 10:1 ► pp. 4 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.