For my final project, I’m working on a translation into French of Etel Adnan’s book length poem, “There,” which she wrote in English. Through she wrote in both languages, I haven’t found a version of this poem in French, and I’m curious how the interplay of There and Là (Là-bas) will work. Once I translate it into French, I plan to let it be for a few weeks and then translate it back into English. The point of this is to see what the cipher of translation does, and to explore how the sounds of French might warp then my English rendition of the poem. I plan to write a short critical essay that encapsulates the project and moves through this process using memory as method.
Translating the Local
Edit Site Title and Tagline from Dashboard > Appearance > Customize > Site Identity
What’s wonderful about this project is how it foregrounds the element of temporality in literary translation, one of many aspects that translation machines which view linguistic difference merely a problem of inefficiency to be solved as quickly as possible omit entirely from consideration. By deliberately incorporating an indeterminate lapse of time into the process, and using “memory as method” you invite further reflection on temporality, timing and translation.
One example of this is the “when” of a translation: the particular way any given translation intersects and resonates with the immediate historical context it is introduced into. The “why now” of Etel Adnan’s work is so immediately apparent in April of 2026 that it might otherwise instill a certain headline urgency into the translation process that the method you propose resists.