Isabel C Gomes on Cannibal Translation

 Isabel Gomes

Alexander Pfu

02/10/24


    Ms. Gomez was our first translational theorist this semester. Her talk was much more focused on history than the other speakers who were more intent on the translations themselves. Illuminating the idea of cannibal translations, Gomez demonstrated how the meaning of the word Cannibal has come to have a positive connotation in the world of translations, and the basics of the technique itself. Cannibalistic translations are those that stray from traditional translatory techniques, instead of favoring a certain structure or perfect similarity to the original texts, they are more of a re-written version of the piece, though it still holds the same general meaning as the original piece. The goal is to make the story connect more to the audience, while also making it sound orally correct. Invisibility and "smoothness" is not in the memo for Cannibal translations, translators presence is to be felt throughout the piece. This a technique used by many South American translators. It can be used in many different areas, including teaching translations, consulting work, edit translations, and promotional materials.


    This weeks readings were considerably different than in the past. Rather than actual translational text, most of the readings were focused on the theory of cannibalistic translation. We did get the poem A Uterus is the Size of a Fist, which was a translation assisted by google(Maybe that's what you should label your Japanese translation as Mr. Vincent). From a quick comparison of what google translated directly and what the final text was, there were extremely few similarities between them. Despite that, the text elicited the same feeling or guttural reaction as the translated piece, with some changes to relate more to the reader. Her text highlights the similarities between women of both cultures, where they are both judged by age and ability bear children. Her sole focus on a woman's sexual or erotic image seems to ignore the idea of a writing or intellectual woman, which seems to not exist as much in Brazilian culture. 

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