Feminist translation Po-Sovetski: a mixed-methods study of the translation of francophone African women’s fiction into Russian in the late Soviet period

Kasongo, Mukile (2023). Feminist translation Po-Sovetski: a mixed-methods study of the translation of francophone African women’s fiction into Russian in the late Soviet period. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the Russian translations of Bâ's Une si longue lettre (Senegal, 1979), Sow Fall’s La grève des Bàttu (Senegal, 1979) and Lemsine's La Chrysalide (Algeria, 1976). Following Françoise Massardier-Kenney’s (1997) pioneering call for a “redefinition of a feminist translation practice”, this study interrogates feminist translation by asking new questions related to the translation of non-hegemonic Others into hegemonic languages in the Socialist context as little attention has been paid to the translation of feminist texts in the late Soviet period. Drawing on a mixed-method approach, it looks at semantic shifts in the process of translating gendered-related aspects including masculinities and femininities into Russian. In doing so, this study offers a fresh methodology by which the examination of the representation of gender through translation may be explored. The results show that Soviet women translators covertly employed feminist translation strategies while neither considering themselves feminists nor consciously embracing feminist ideology. As a result, this study concludes by introducing the concept of strategic domestication in feminist translation while proposing a new theory grounded in data.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):