Research Project
Translation: An Avenue to Broaden Global Perspective
Clare Gorman translated the play "Année Blanche pour Kalemba" (written by Congolese playwright Pierre Mumbere Mujomba) from French to English.
- Research Area(s)
- Undergraduate Research
- Funding Source
- LASURI Undergraduate Initiative
Abstract
Clare Gorman's LASURI project involved translating the Congolese play Année Blanche pour Kalemba by Pierre Mumbere Mujomba from French into English. The translation process involved solving problems regarding societal implications of specific words, phrases, and ideas. These difficulties, however, helped Gorman formulate her own idea of translation: beyond simply equating words from the original language of a text into another language, effective translation must fit a language’s understanding of words into the psychological and societal norms of the culture of the translated language. Gorman and faculty mentor Stacy Fifer translated the play scene by scene, choosing particular scenes at the beginning of the week and discussing the work at the end of the week until a rough draft of the translation emerged, at which point they sent out this draft to readers for feedback. In March, they had the fortune of working with Mujomba himself, which allowed them to gain insight as to how to go about editing the drafts. The end goal of this endeavor is to have the translation published and/or performed in Chicago. (Faculty Mentor: Stacy Fifer).