Translation as Overcoming? Trauma and (Re)writing in Laura Alcoba’s Le bleu des abeilles

In Le bleu des abeilles (2013), Laura Alcoba evokes her exile in the suburbs of Paris in 1979 and the following correspondence with her father who remained imprisoned in Argentina. Soon the act of translating becomes indispensable in order to maintain an affective relationship with him, as they comm...

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Main Author: Sarah Staes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Iberoamericana / Vervuert 2020-11-01
Series:Iberoamericana. América Latina - España - Portugal
Online Access:https://journals.iai.spk-berlin.de/index.php/iberoamericana/article/view/2772
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spelling doaj-6ba490bb9e4f40a1b00352cb55c141f32020-12-08T09:32:43ZengIberoamericana / VervuertIberoamericana. América Latina - España - Portugal1577-33882255-520X2020-11-012075375010.18441/ibam.20.2020.75.37-502074Translation as Overcoming? Trauma and (Re)writing in Laura Alcoba’s Le bleu des abeillesSarah Staes0Universiteit GentIn Le bleu des abeilles (2013), Laura Alcoba evokes her exile in the suburbs of Paris in 1979 and the following correspondence with her father who remained imprisoned in Argentina. Soon the act of translating becomes indispensable in order to maintain an affective relationship with him, as they communicate in Spanish about books she reads in French. Thus, translation opens a shared mental space between Argentina and France. This article sheds light on how the conscious acquisition of French, at the cost of Spanish, initiates the elaboration of (unconscious) trauma which Cathy Caruth, based upon Freud, defines as the external which became interiorized without any mediation. Nevertheless, Alcoba’s trauma never dissolves completely and the author ends up having an ambiguous attitude towards both languages.https://journals.iai.spk-berlin.de/index.php/iberoamericana/article/view/2772
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Sarah Staes
spellingShingle Sarah Staes
Translation as Overcoming? Trauma and (Re)writing in Laura Alcoba’s Le bleu des abeilles
Iberoamericana. América Latina - España - Portugal
author_facet Sarah Staes
author_sort Sarah Staes
title Translation as Overcoming? Trauma and (Re)writing in Laura Alcoba’s Le bleu des abeilles
title_short Translation as Overcoming? Trauma and (Re)writing in Laura Alcoba’s Le bleu des abeilles
title_full Translation as Overcoming? Trauma and (Re)writing in Laura Alcoba’s Le bleu des abeilles
title_fullStr Translation as Overcoming? Trauma and (Re)writing in Laura Alcoba’s Le bleu des abeilles
title_full_unstemmed Translation as Overcoming? Trauma and (Re)writing in Laura Alcoba’s Le bleu des abeilles
title_sort translation as overcoming? trauma and (re)writing in laura alcoba’s le bleu des abeilles
publisher Iberoamericana / Vervuert
series Iberoamericana. América Latina - España - Portugal
issn 1577-3388
2255-520X
publishDate 2020-11-01
description In Le bleu des abeilles (2013), Laura Alcoba evokes her exile in the suburbs of Paris in 1979 and the following correspondence with her father who remained imprisoned in Argentina. Soon the act of translating becomes indispensable in order to maintain an affective relationship with him, as they communicate in Spanish about books she reads in French. Thus, translation opens a shared mental space between Argentina and France. This article sheds light on how the conscious acquisition of French, at the cost of Spanish, initiates the elaboration of (unconscious) trauma which Cathy Caruth, based upon Freud, defines as the external which became interiorized without any mediation. Nevertheless, Alcoba’s trauma never dissolves completely and the author ends up having an ambiguous attitude towards both languages.
url https://journals.iai.spk-berlin.de/index.php/iberoamericana/article/view/2772
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