Daniela Cappelo : Strategies for Translating Obscenity : Medical Language and Sanitization in Malay Roychoudhury's Poetry
Obscenity and Taboo Language Cultures vary widely in the treatment and reception of speech related to sex and bodily activities; while some cultures may perceive language related to sex as dirty and offensive, other social and cultural contexts may in fact not regard the same as a taboo (Allen and Burridge 2006). Working on modern Bengali poetry and specifically dealing with ‘poetics of obscenity’ has forced me to question my position as a translator with regard to the cultural, social and ethical limits – as well as freedoms – that I, consciously or unconsciously, avail myself of in my research. In particular, I was faced with the challenge of finding ways to negotiate between the multiple meanings of the text and my personal experience and understanding of those. For instance, how does a foreign translator of a South Asian language respond to ‘obscene’ phrases which are not a taboo in her own culture? Or else, how do I, an Italian scholar translating into Eng...