Pour une approche intersectionnelle de la sociologie de la traduction. Les romans francophones africains traduits en néerlandais (1956-2020)
Katrien Lievois
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Title
Toward an intersectional approach to the sociology of translation: African Francophone novels translated into Dutch (1956–2020)
Abstract
This article explores the potential contribution of intersectionality to the sociology of translation. While sociological approaches to translation have long examined the power relations shaping the international circulation of literary works, they often address categories such as language, gender, origin, or place of publication separately rather than in combination. Drawing on insights from transnational feminist translation studies, this article argues that an intersectional perspective offers a more nuanced understanding of how different mechanisms of marginalization interact. The study is based on a corpus of Dutch translations of African Francophone novels published between 1956 and 2020. The analysis highlights several converging dynamics: the limited visibility of Sub-Saharan African literatures, the marginal position of African women writers, and the central role of France — and Paris in particular — in processes of international dissemination. Although the system appears to have become more inclusive in terms of gender since 2000, it has simultaneously grown increasingly dependent on the Parisian publishing centre, contributing to a gradual reduction in the diversity of translated works. This article therefore advocates an intersectional approach to the sociology of translation in order to better understand how mechanisms of selection, legitimization, and invisibilization interact within global literary circulation.
Keywords
Literary translation studies, sociology of translation, intersectionality, African Francophone literature, African women writers, diversity