Status Updates From Violent Phenomena: 21 Essay...

OMG hello new favorite book?? Right off the bat with asking us to reflect on the colonial assumptions inherent in translation and the translation field. Bam!

‘The proximity of many disparate languages—give rise to Singlish—bogeyman of language—Even if the English-based creole was hewed from Chinese, Malay & English, its texture didn’t favour an audience w/ receptive bilingualism in either language. For this reason—one’s token ethnic friend are unspoken, mandatory secondary resources for one’s reading. In the heart of Empire, I saw the outline—of Anglomania. So, I pushed—’

‘Knowledge of Welsh history, literature, and language is hard won, even for those who live in Wales—Instilled in me from a very young age was the knowledge that I must prove my language is alive every day, by pressing the ‘Cymraeg’ button—on a parking meter. If I don’t, I put our language at risk. Languages inosculate; they weave together. Tending towards plurality and complexity; they support rather than destroy.’

‘Hemingway—whitest of all white authors—god of all Mythical English Readers, and this is why his DNA runs so deep in American letters today. When I translate—it’s really me for whom I’m translating—I am the true English reader. Point being, we need a movement to make real changes in the landscape—collective action, the sum of all of our individual efforts coalescing into a single, anticolonial direction.’ — Anton Hur