Ann Marie Boulanger

Self-translation and Nancy Huston

Self-translation, the process whereby an author translates his or her own work into another language, has long been viewed, and even scorned, as a literary curiosity at best, and a betrayal of the translation process at worst. Yet, self-translation has a long history and has been practised by some of humanity’s greatest writers. This presentation will cover the history of self-translation in broad strokes, and discuss the various motivations for self-translation and the contexts in which it takes place. Some of the theories and concepts at play in self-translation include agency, cultural mediation, bilingualism, and the cultural turn in translation. Emphasis will be placed on the prolific Canadian author and self-translator Nancy Huston, who was raised as an anglophone but adopted France as her home and French as her language of creation. This presentation will cite examples of her work and discuss her motivations for writing in a language other than her mother tongue. Finally, the disputed status of self-translation will be discussed, in particular as it applies to the debates and controversy surrounding Huston’s work.

Ann Marie Boulanger is a native English speaker who has been speaking French since early childhood. She is a graduate of Concordia University’s Institute for Cooperative Education and holds a BA in French Studies, Specialization in Translation. She is currently completing an MA in Translation Studies at Concordia University. A certified French-to-English translator (member of OTTIAQ), she has over 15 years’ experience providing English translation, revision, and language consulting services. As the president and owner of Traduction Proteus Inc., she also has extensive experience in business development, project management, and financial and human resources management.