Changing the Terms: Translating in the Postcolonial Era ed. by Sherry Simon, Paul St-Pierre (review)

478 letters in canada 2001 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 Pordzik is aware that his comparisons may appear homogenizing and contends that >important similarities can be registered that indicate the tendency within a Aglobal culture@ of postcolonial writings to create Atransnational@ fictions.= These fictions, although they draw on diversity, often work to consolidate difference and create coherence. It is an interesting argument but insufficiently developed here. I am not convinced, for example, by the comparisons he draws between Indian Suniti Namjoshi =s The Mothers of Maya Diip and New Zealander Rachel McAlpine=s The Limits of Green because for me the differences between the two remain much more striking. To a large extent, such quibbles come with the territory. The book is a valuable introduction to a wide range of literature. It conscientiously bridges the politics/aesthetics divide in a carefully theorized, solidly researched, and accessible style and contains a useful index and an excellent Works Cited list. Any student wishing to work in this field will need to consult this pioneering study. (DIANA BRYDON) Sherry Simon and Paul St-Pierre, editors. Changing the Terms: Translating in the Postcolonial Era University of Ottawa Press. 308. $29.95 As the title suggests, this collection of fifteen essays proposes a different and innovative approach to the study of translation and postcolonial studies. Traditional notions of both terms are challenged in this fine work by renowned Canadian and international scholars. The link between translation and postcolonialism, and the different interpretations they inspire, are illustrated succinctly in an example cited in Simon=s excellent introduction. As she notes, the Indian writer Amitov Gosh explained that his grandfather=s library contained Bengali translations of European canonical authors. This collection, a sign of good breeding, was no doubt similar to the one belonging to many other >gentlemen= in colonized nations. Gosh spoke as well, however, of the enormous contribution made by Indian stories and storytelling to world literature. While the library may well be seen as a sign of oppression, an example of >translation as violence,= the migration of the stories and the storytelling tradition situates translation practice in a >process of exchange.= The difference, and delicate balance, between the two concepts illustrate the way in which cultures relate to each other from historical, economic, and political perspectives. The authors included in the present study explore, from many geographical and critical angles, the relations of power and alterity central to translation projects as well as to the institutions and institutional practices that govern them in colonial or postcolonial contexts. The essays are somewhat curiously identified as chapters and are humanities 479 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 divided into two sections. In the first, >(Post)colonialism and the Powers of Translation,= the authors consider the implications of postcolonial theory for translation studies. Several authors explore postcolonialism and translation from the perspective of national cultures in which >translation is our [sic] condition= (Michael Cronin, Ireland; Leo Tak-Hung Chan, China; Diptiranjan Pattanaik, India; Shantha Ramakrishna, India; Elizabeth B. Fitzpatrick, Dutch East Indies). Others reflect more broadly on the notions of hybridity as a key element in postcolonial practices (Michaela Wolf), or >the applicability of translation theory to the understanding and analysis of postcolonial literature= (Maria Tymoczko), and on the >relationship between translation and the social and cultural practices resulting from colonialism= (Jean-Marc Gouanvic). In the second section, >Scenes of Negotiation,= the authors focus on specific examples of cultural practices situated in the space between colonialism and postcolonialism. Studies of Irish drama (Maria-Elena Doyle), Latino literature (Juliana de Zavalia), Quebec drama (Louise Ladouceur), and Indian literature, including that of Orissa (Anita Mannur, N. Kamala, and Paul St-Pierre), examine critically the impact of intercultural contact on >national= literatures and the link between history, politics, and translation in a particular cultural context. The final essay, by Probal Dasgupta, addresses the much larger issue of the transfer and translation of knowledge; it advocates a >post-missionary= strategy to counteract the hijacking of scientific work by the English language. In sum, in this valuable collection the authors forge a link among linguistics, literary and cultural theories while >mapping...