Orality, trauma theory, and interlingual translation: a study of repetition in Kourouma's Allah n'est pas obligé

Batchelor, Kathryn

Abstract

The use of stylistic devices based around repetition in Ahmadou Kourouma’s Allah n’est pas obligé is usually taken as one of the markers of the novel’s link to oral story-telling traditions. It is, however, equally feasible to read such devices as markers of trauma, linking them for example to therapeutic story-telling and to the development of inner schemata adequate to the traumatic experience. This article presents a reading of Allah n’est pas that seeks to combine the concepts of translation-of-orality and transation-of-trauma, thus contributing to ongoing discussions around the postcolonializing of trauma theory. It also explores the implications of such a reading for postcolonial translation theory, and particularly the theorization of the translation of orality-inflected literature.

Citation

Batchelor, K. (in press). Orality, trauma theory, and interlingual translation: a study of repetition in Kourouma's Allah n'est pas obligé. Translation Studies, 8(2), https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2014.1001777

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 15, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Jan 20, 2015
• Deposit Date: Sep 7, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 7, 2016
• Journal: Translation Studies
• Print ISSN: 1478-1700
• Electronic ISSN: 1751-2921
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2014.1001777
• Keywords: Kourouma, repetition, orality, trauma, translation, postcolonial
• Public URL: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/36315
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14781700.2014.1001777
• Copyright Statement: Copyright information regarding this work can be found at the following address: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/end_user_agreement.pdf
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Translation Studies on 20 January 2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14781700.2014.1001777.