Critical and Speculative Translation Fictions
Participatory Translation as a Mean of Social and Cultural Critique
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61200/mikael.164051Avainsanat:
radical design, experimental translation, transfiction, participatory designAbstrakti
Speculative research is a future-oriented approach using speculation for critical inquiry on the present and to imagine alternatives to current ideological discourses about the future. It is rooted in the use of design for social critique rather than as enabler of industrial production. In this paper, I outline my attempt to combine its methodologies with existing Translation Studies approaches with a similar nature. First, I describe the characteristics and history of Critical and Speculative Design. Then, I engage with methods and practices proper to translation research going in a similar direction: transfiction, pseudotranslation, experimental translations and critical translation. On this basis I propose the possibility of Critical and Speculative Translation Fictions: combining the two approaches, introducing a participatory perspective, synergy between criticality and fiction, and an expansion of scope that sees translation as a vantage point to reflect on many socio-cultural phenomena. Next, I recount my experience in organising Speculative Transfiction workshops and integrating participatory design in critical and creative translation processes. Finally, I outline an evaluation framework combining insights from Speculative Research and Translation Studies and apply it to the workshop’s products. In conclusion, my paper joins the collective efforts to highlight the epistemological value of translation.
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