Translating Invisible Lives: Paul Bowles’ Rewritings of his Moroccan Storytellers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.mut/v16n1a02Keywords:
identity, Paul Bowles, postcolonialism, power, queer, Tangier, translationAbstract
This article aims to examine Paul Bowles’ translations as a space where major and minor cultures clash or come together. These translations are the result of his long and well-known stay in Tangier. They are based on the narrations of his Moroccan male friends. These translations are not at all orthodox translations. This article intends to answer a series of questions to prove this point: What is the source text? Who is the author? What literature does the manuscript written in Maghrebi belong
to? Bowles’ rewritings of the stories told by his Moroccan friends have as many supporters as critics. They reveal Bowles’ identity on multiple fronts including sexuality and nationality. But they are also political since they reveal that translations can be at the centre of asymmetrical encounters of peoples and cultures.
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