The Shoah and the Dictionary of Untranslatables, or How to Translalte the Indescribable Landscape of the Holocaust

• Main Author: Rosa Marta GÓMEZ PATO
• Format: Article
• Language: Catalan
• Published: Universidad de Salamanca 2018-07-01
• Series: 1616
• Subjects: traducción; testimonio; posibilidades del relato de la shoah; éticas y poéticas
• Online Access: https://revistas.usal.es/index.php/1616_Anuario_Literatura_Comp/article/view/18577

This study emphasizes the existence of intimate connections between translation and holocaust literature and deconstructs not only the idea of authority but also the binary opposition between translation and creative writing. The author introduces the concept of (un)translatable (B. Cassin) as a productive notion that fosters the cultural richness and diversity.<br />This contribution supports the dialogical nature of transferring the trauma into narrative and considers translation and holocaust literature as constructions of new meanings and as processes of collaborative relationships and responsibility. The ineffable can be narrated. All these ideas are justified using different literary texts as a source, and key features of Holocaust literature are identified. Moreover, both the process of translation and the strategies of translating holocaust literature are also illustrated.