Post-Colonialism and Translation Theory
As an expansion on my presentation, I wanted to more directly connect the issues of literary translation theory to their contemporary applications to post-colonialism in art.
Fanon’s article The Wretched of the Earth discusses the primitivist expectations of cultural translation imposed on black Americans. The article dissects how post-colonialist biases provide problematic perceptions as to cultural identities that are other than European and white. There is a primitive and exotic connotation associated with non-European culture and works that makes for a deeply limited allowance of cultural expression for people of color.
This article’s relation to post-colonialist theory in cultural understanding is deeply applicable to the art historical field and how artwork has been distorted in their translation through a white and European lens. This bias in translation has left out the honesty of cultural narrative and expression that maintains a deeply racist scholarship behind art and how art is presented to the world.
The artist Romare Bearden has worked on bridging the dialogue between European-leaning scholarship with scholarship on cultural honesty and relatability within black identity. His series “Black Odyssey” tells the classic Greek epic through a black lens and even uses reference to Ancient Greek pottery as a means to communicate the colored reality of the white-washed history that is told in the museum setting. This series of collages helps to illustrate the deep cultural connections that Ancient Greece and Africa have and that black myths are also white myths. This artistic example promotes the connectivity between culture and rewrites cultural understanding to communicate how the primitive and exotic bias is grossly incorrect. Bearden’s work is a reflection on the importance of promoting black artists as a means of communicated the accuracy of black culture rather than translating black culture through a white voice.
Sources:
Fanon, Franz. The Wretched of the Earth. Translated by Richard Philcox, Grove Press, 2004, pp. 145-161.
Featured Image:
Bearden, Romare. Circe, “Black Odyssey” series. 1977.
Great post this week! You took a really cool route to look at what we learned. Promoting and talking about diversity in classical study has been an interest of mine for a while. It’s incredibly frustrating how many white supremacists turn to classics to validate their beliefs. I think that talking about these things combats white supremacy on a higher level than just academic because of this reason. I definitely want to check out the series you mentioned.