Rachid Boudjedra in English Translation: Negotiating the Challenges of Multiculturalism

A translator is often caught in a compromise between acculturation of the source text to its intended audience and the desire to respect the work’s foreignness. In this essay I reflect upon the process of translating from French into English a play by Rachid Boudjedra. Drawing on his many cultural heritages, the Algerian playwright sought to institute a linguistic and philosophical dialogue between North and South. Given the author’s consciously multicultural use of metaphors, vocabulary, allusions, rhythm, and style, the only solution was to respect the “strangeness” of the source text and recognize that Western theater conventions are not universal.