Strategy and practice of partial non-translation in contemporary poetry (a case study of Hong Kong and Russian authors)

Abstract

The paper centers on the phenomenon of non-translation in the texts of bilingual poets who perform self-translation into the lect of a dominant, ‘larger’ tradition (Putonghua / Rus­sian). Non-translation is set in motion in the conditions of enhanced linguistic reflection of its authors and serves as a marker of a special affective connection with a lect that is permanently associated with a weaker position. Paradoxically, the attempt to expand readership by trans­lating into ‘larger’ lects relies on the strategy of non-translation. Non-translation captures the most content-laden elements of the poem, which in the original serve as a sign of the otherness of the cultural tradition correlated with the text. In this sense, non-translation has a performative character, since its very production emphasizes the critical difference and delimitation of linguistic and cultural traditions.

Keywords

• bilingualism
• erzya
• minority languages
• self-translation
• topolect
• translatability
• yue