Literary Translation as locus for a reflection of the influences of colonial discourses through the analysis of Sleepwalking Land

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the strategies used to translate Terra Sonâmbula into English, Sleepwalking Land, while taking into account Mia Couto’s writing style, which breaks a Western logic configuration as evidenced in his transgressing narratives. The goal here is to observe how the translator has dealt with some linguistic features present in Terra Sonâmbula, focusing on the perception of the cultural significance in Translation Studies, as a means to understand how local elements of the Mozambican culture were implemented in the overall context of the English language. Therefore, Venuti’s strategies, domestication and foreignization, as well as Berman’s deforming tendencies were applied. Findings have shown that the domestication strategy was prevalent in Sleepwalking Land, resulting on the mitigation of cultural significance present in Terra Sonâmbula. Findings have also pointed out to a no less coercive process of cultural redefinition through foreignization strategies, since they have contributed to the perpetuation of stereotypes and undermined the symmetry of cultural interrelation.