Resumen de Translating non-canonised texts from a minority culture into a hegemonic culture: a case study in Catalonia
This paper explores the translation of non-canonised literature from a minority culture (Catalan) into a hegemonic culture (Spanish). In particular, it focuses on the ideological and sociocultural factors which lead the translator to purge the translation of idiosyncratic elements pertaining to the source culture. The aim is to show that the omission of such identifying features not only causes a loss of source culture elements in the target text, but it also legitimates the hegemonic role of the dominant culture. To demonstrate this I will show how specific features from the original are concealed in the target text – in the translators’ deliberate act of making the source culture invisible – so that the translation can be published in the Spanish market. The concepts of hegemony, power, and consent, borrowed from cultural studies, form the theoretical grounds underpinning this study, which also vindicates the relevance of this discipline to understand how translation operates in the asymmetric exchange between Catalan and Spanish cultures.
