“Thank you … . Facebook”: neocolonial practices of translation as self-Seduction

ABSTRACT This article examines the diverging translations of an unnamed protester photographed several times throughout the early days of the 2011 Egyptian uprisings. Using iconographic tracking, the paper argues that self-seductive translation is an important concept for critical cultural studies. Self-seductive translation targets neocolonial audiences with an identification chain that obscures the asymmetry of the neocolonial relationship. In the case of the unnamed protester, self-seductive translation encouraged US English speakers to identify themselves as equals with the imaged protester, where the now-equal relationship is delivered by tools and technology of the West.