The missionary translator: expanding notions of translation through the colonial mission practices of the SMEP Basutoland and Barotseland missions (1857-1904)

Liu, Esther Ruth 2016. The missionary translator: expanding notions of translation through the colonial mission practices of the SMEP Basutoland and Barotseland missions (1857-1904). PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

In this thesis the figure of the colonial Christian missionary is put forward as a translator - in terms of both interlingual translation (translation proper) and a more metaphorical and intercultural translation process (mission-translation). It takes the example of SMEP (Société des Missions Évangéliques de Paris) missionary, François Coillard (1834-1904), his wife, Christina, and indigenous missionaries such as Asser Sehahabane and Aaron Mayoro, and posits these historical individuals and their translation practices as sources which shed new light on current understandings of the nature of translation and the ontology of the translator. Through the discussion of the famous French protestant missionary, it deconstructs the (in)visibility binary in translation studies as well as the singularity of the translator, and puts forward a spectral collaborative translator-presence. From this point on, the thesis demonstrates that translation proper is an incarnational, bodily act which goes far beyond ink on a page. As it considers François’ wife, Christina Coillard née Mackintosh, and other female missionaries, it re-evaluates the site of the domestic as vital in translation, posits hospitality as a multidirectional facet of translation, and completion as the goal of translation. Indigenous missionary involvement then reveals translation to be made up of relationships of trust and of multiple movements. And Coillard’s photographs, seen as and in translation, demonstrate the many layers of context and significance at work in translation. Whilst colonial missionaries are overlooked translator-figures in studies of missiology, colonial history, and translation, in this thesis, a closer look at mission-translation reveals that these individuals are significant sources for the expansion of notions of both mission and translation.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Modern Languages
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Colonial Christian missionary translator interlingual metaphorical interculatural Coillard French missiology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	5 April 2017
Last Modified:	31 Aug 2018 01:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/99638

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