{"id":672,"date":"2019-03-08T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T10:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/?p=672"},"modified":"2019-03-08T10:00:07","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T10:00:07","slug":"iwd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2019\/03\/08\/iwd\/","title":{"rendered":"International Women\u2019s Day: some thoughts on Women in Translation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I remember the first time I celebrated International Women\u2019s Day: I was an earnest PhD student, my feminist sensibilities just awakening, and I went to a screening of a film about female ejaculation. Squirming in my seat, I didn\u2019t feel like much of a feminist. Almost twenty years later, I\u2019m far more confident about what feminism means to me, and it\u2019s pretty simple: it means equality. Not being the same, not being better \u2013 just being equal.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-734\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/601\/2019\/03\/IMG_20190308_092826.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2098\" height=\"2100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/601\/2019\/03\/IMG_20190308_092826.jpg 2098w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/601\/2019\/03\/IMG_20190308_092826-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/601\/2019\/03\/IMG_20190308_092826-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/601\/2019\/03\/IMG_20190308_092826-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/601\/2019\/03\/IMG_20190308_092826-768x769.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/601\/2019\/03\/IMG_20190308_092826-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/601\/2019\/03\/IMG_20190308_092826-2046x2048.jpg 2046w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2098px) 100vw, 2098px\" \/>But simplicity is rarely straightforward. Inequality is so ingrained in our society that it sometimes feels insurmountable, because it\u2019s in every interaction, from the gender pay gap to the knowing eyeroll that follows the most fleeting mention of the words \u201cfeminist\u201d or \u201cpatriarchy&#8221;. I dream of a day when we don&#8217;t have to talk about &#8220;feminism&#8221; or &#8220;patriarchy&#8221; because we&#8217;ll simply be talking about &#8220;equality&#8221; and &#8220;society&#8221;, and I dream of a day when we don&#8217;t have to talk about &#8220;women&#8217;s writing&#8221;, because it will just be &#8220;literature&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2>So I have a dream&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>&#8230; that one day &#8220;women&#8221; will not be a subcategory to anything. The simple fact of having to talk about \u201cwomen\u2019s writing\u201d or even &#8220;women in translation&#8221; makes them seem somehow a subcategory of \u201creal\u201d writing and &#8220;real&#8221; translation. For now, we need the terms &#8220;women&#8217;s writing&#8221; and &#8220;women in translation&#8221;, because otherwise we are not challenging dominant discourses that silence pressing debates about gender parity. By using these terms, we are reminded &#8211; and we remind gatekeepers &#8211; that we still need to work actively towards equality.<\/p>\n<p>One such example of activism was\u00a0the commitment that independent publishing (power)house\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.andotherstories.org\/2018\/05\/11\/2018-is-our-year-of-publishing-women\/\">And Other Stories<\/a> made to the Year of Publishing Women, which I discussed with their publicist Nicky Smalley <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2018\/11\/07\/the-year-of-publishing-women\/\">here<\/a>: in seeking out women authors, And Other Stories not only contributed to diversity in publishing, but also brought excellent literature to English-language readers that otherwise might not have made it through. I believe this commitment was a model for real change: we can&#8217;t assume that women&#8217;s voices will be heard if we do not actively make it possible, and so if we want equality then we have a responsibility to do so &#8211; whether as publishers, as booksellers, or as readers (and if you&#8217;d like some inspiration of what to read next, my <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/my-virtual-bookshelf\/\">virtual bookshelf<\/a> has dozens of one-line reviews of women&#8217;s writing in translation).<\/p>\n<p>English-language publishers who champion literature in translation are doing something radical and necessary; those who actively seek out women in translation are doing something revolutionary. Think Tilted Axis Press and their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiltedaxispress.com\/store\/translating-feminisms-four-chapbook-bundle\">Translating Feminisms<\/a> project, Comma Press publishing the first <a href=\"https:\/\/commapress.co.uk\/books\/thirteen-months-of-sunrise\/\">major translated collection<\/a> of a Sudanese woman writer, Les Fugitives and their mission to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lesfugitives.com\/about\/\">bring French women&#8217;s writing to English-language readers<\/a>, Parthian Books and their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parthianbooks.com\/collections\/europa-carnivale\">Europa Carnivale<\/a> series. As Margaret Carson, co-founder of the <a href=\"https:\/\/womenintranslation.tumblr.com\/\">Women in Translation tumblr<\/a> (and keynote speaker at our forthcoming <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/conference-2019\/\">Translating Women conference<\/a>), recently wrote for <em>In Other Words<\/em>, \u201cremaining unknown is the greatest barrier [&#8230;] There is no lack of women writers in any literary culture: the question is how to find them.\u201d The answer might be by supporting these small but mighty publishing houses.<\/p>\n<p>Translation, like feminism, is a form of activism, its very etymology a movement. And movements are about&#8230; moving. <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2018\/11\/28\/on-borders-encounters-and-witwisdom\/\">Moving across borders<\/a>, moving away from stereotypes, and moving towards a common goal.\u00a0Just as women\u2019s writing is dependent on gatekeepers letting it through, so women\u2019s rights are dependent on our voices being heard. So no more eyerolls at the mention of the f-word, and no more apologies: <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2018\/07\/03\/feminism-is-for-everyone\/\">feminism is for everyone<\/a>. We all need it, and we all benefit from it, just as we all benefit from translation, which opens our eyes to worlds beyond borders both literal and figurative. Feminism and translation both build bridges, foster inclusivity, and create connections instead of barriers. By supporting women\u2019s voices in translation, we are coming one step closer to the equality that my unapologetically feminist heart longs for.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I remember the first time I celebrated International Women\u2019s Day: I was an earnest PhD student, my feminist sensibilities just awakening, and I went to a screening of a film about female ejaculation. Squirming in my seat, I didn\u2019t feel like much of a feminist. Almost twenty years later, I\u2019m far more confident about what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[29,81,235,337,449,541,723,989,1055],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>International Women\u2019s Day: some thoughts on Women in Translation - Translating Women<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/translatingwomen\/2019\/03\/08\/iwd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"International Women\u2019s Day: some thoughts on Women in Translation - Translating Women\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I remember the first time I celebrated International Women\u2019s Day: I was an earnest PhD student, my feminist sensibilities just awakening, and I went to a screening of a film about female ejaculation. 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