A Foucauldian approach to spatial categorisation in translation-oriented feminist literary criticism
Keywords:
Gendered space, gynocriticism, heterotopias, spatial criticism, translation translation-oriented literary analysisAbstract
This qualitative corpus-based study set out to identify, describe and explain categories of spaces in selected feminist texts. Kruger and Wallmach‘s (1997:123) corpus design compilation strategies were used, to ensure that the selected texts respected the same tertium comparationis. Data were collected through spatial criticism and Showalter‘s (1985) gynocriticism frameworks from three feminist novels and analysed using Lazar‘s (2008) feminist critical discourse analysis and content analysis frameworks to identify, describe and categorise spaces in the literature. The findings were presented through detailed narratives, supported by excerpts that buttressed the arguments made. The study was underpinned by Cixous‘s (1976) écriture féminine theory, as well as Foucault‘s (1984), Lefebvre‘s (1991) and Heidegger‘s (1971) spatial criticism theories, applied to explain the relationship between space and human existence, classify the spaces and explain the way power is wielded by different genders within them. The findings revealed that the stratification of spaces occurs in the public and personal spheres. The recommendations made were as follows: feminist translators ought to pay particular attention to settings within spaces which are out of bounds to women. Also, since gendered spaces are created in literary texts to bolster masculinity, translators must understand how to capitalise on these spaces, know their characteristics and master their role in feminist literature before they set out to translate such texts. Moreover, as a focus of feminist criticism, space is important in feminist translation studies, since it carries equal, if not more meaning than written word, being able to also create a connection between the author and translator. These findings thus conclude that the aim of translating feminist literature should not just be for rendering the source language linguistic code into the target language, it should also be for transferring the source language habitus into the target language for its readers.
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