Writing between Languages: Translation and Multilingual Aesthetics in Francophone Indian Literature

My project will use the research methodology of translation as a means to explore and compare the multilingual poetics of Francophone literature by writers of Indian origin, including writers from India, Mauritius and the Caribbean. Firstly, I will analyse these works through the lens of existing English translations to explore what light this may shed on the multilingual poetics of the works. Secondly, drawing on postcolonial translation theories, I will translate extracts of these works and analyse what this process can reveal about their multilingual aesthetic.

I will also investigate the effectiveness of this two-fold methodology as a mode of literary analysis through practice and evaluation, building on existing studies on translation as a research methodology. By examining an as yet understudied corpus which is distinct in its multilingualism, owing to its multiplicity of Indian languages, Creoles, and colonial languages, the study will provide unique insights into the complex relations between these languages. The project thus aims to make an original contribution to existing studies on Multilingualism, Translingual Writing, and Postcolonial Translation in the contemporary Francosphere.