BETWEEN THE ORBITS: TRANSLATING SHARON DODUA OTOO'S ADAS RAUM

Abstract

This paper examines theoretical and practical questions involved in the translation of Sharon Dodua Otoo's transnational and polyphonic novel Adas Raum. Using translation theory and the Benjaminian notion of a translation's ‘Fortleben’, I build on my concept of ‘conversive reading’, as well as on extensive real-time collaboration with Otoo and fellow translators to ask: How does one negotiate questions of identity, positionality and voice in a work whose narrative so intricately intertwines these dimensions? How can the literary inheritance which informs a source text influence its translation into the target language? To what extent must a successful translation move away from the source text to facilitate its nuances in the target language? Expanding on the experience and practice of translating this novel, I demonstrate that my understanding of translation as an ongoing process represents a renegotiation of the source – building upon a work's literary forebears and diverging, when necessary, from the language of the source to best facilitate voice and reception in the cultural context of the target language.