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Translation and the Construction of Identity: Abstracts
Date: 12-14 August 2004
Venue: Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Korea
Haslina Haroon
Translation Section, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM),
Malaysia
This paper attempts to study the genre of travel literature by drawing on the
concept of rewriting and the creation and construction of images by Lefevere
(1992). He asserts that “translations create the “image” of the original for
readers who have no access to the “reality” of that original” (1996:139). In
this sense then, travel literature, as a form of rewriting, becomes an important
resource in Translation Studies because according to Bassnett (1998) this is
where we can observe the strategies which are used to construct the images of
other cultures. It is through the study of travel literature that we can see how
other cultures are translated, contructed and presented from the point of view
of one culture.
In this paper, I will try to look at dominant images and representations of
Malaya/Malaysia by examining selected travel accounts relating to the country,
written in the early 20th century during the British occupation of
Malaya/Malaysia. In particular I will look at some of the strategies used in
constructing the image of the country and in representing the country to others.
I will also try to explore how these unique representations of the country are
maintained. In doing so, the paper is able to look at how the traditions and
conventions of one culture are viewed and incorporated into another culture,
thus revealing the power relations involved in the writing of travel literature
of the early 20th century.
Panel 5: Translation and the (De-)construction of National/Cultural Identities
Between Image and Reality: the Construction of Malaya in Travel Literature
© IATIS 2003