The Translation of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago: The Evolution of a Festival
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/1925-5624.37814Keywords:
Carnival, festival, translation, transculturation, Trinidad and Tobago.Abstract
Carnival as a medium of cultural expression is a festival that has existed in various forms around the world. In this article, the author examines Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago through the lens of Translation Studies. Can a cultural object such as a festival be described as a translation? Drawing on Toury’s broad notion of translation as an any process that crosses systemic boundaries and on his descriptive translation model, on Fernando Ortiz’ notion of transculturation and on Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory, the author explores how the process of evolution of Carnival parallels the process of the translation of a text, concluding ultimately that this evolution is in fact not just a process of translation, but one of transculturation.
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