Beyond the Monolingual Paradigm: Literary Self-Translation in Indigenous Languages in Argentina

Abstract

Contemporary indigenous literatures in Abya Yala / Latin America constitute an aesthetic, epistemic, political and linguistic project of increasing visibility. The diglossia and multilingualism of these practices and discourses exceed the monolingual Spanish paradigm prevailing in the region. In the Argentine case, the monolingual and monocultural imaginary built from educational policies and discursive practices that date back to the consolidation of the State in the 19th century, has historically made the multilingual and intercultural reality of the country invisible, in line with the genocide processes and material and symbolic dispossession to which racialized groups and communities have been subjected. In this sense, the multilingual character of contemporary indigenous literatures tends to challenge such an imaginary, to reference other literary universes (Chacón, 2018) and to stress the panorama of national letters towards the “post-monolingual” (Yildiz, 2012). Self-translation stands, in this context, as a highly central practice among indigenous authors. This work aims to carry out a geographical mapping of the practice of literary self-translation in indigenous languages ​​in Argentina, its motivations, strategies and sociolinguistic contexts. Special consideration will be given to the production of the writers Liliana Ancalao, Mario Castells, Lecko Zamora and Víctor Zárate, who have displayed their bilingualism in writing in Spanish and the Mapudungun, Guaraní, Wichi and Qom, respectively.