Food, culture, language and translation

Abstract

The article I have been asked to comment upon is essentially aimed at discussing the relationship between food, culture, language and translation, relying on examples from some works by postcolonial women writers (among them in particular Gloria Anzaldúa, Esmeralda Santiago, Chimamanda Adichie, Najat El Hachmi), in a Cultural Discourse Studies perspective (Shi-xu 2015) also drawing on postcolonial translation studies (Bassnett 2013). The conceptual frame in which the article is set rests on the assumption that food and eating are not only part of the biological processes aimed at sustenance, but comprise a set of products and actions that reflect culture, values, identities, ethnicities, and religions, and works as a system of communication. This premise is discussed with reference to the very rich literature on food produced mainly in semiotics, philosophy, geography, literature, sociology, economics, etc. and also in the light of ongoing research projects in translation studies aimed at exploring the relationship between food and translation. What is especially interesting is the fact that the authors use the condition of women living in postcolonial and migration settings, positioned as they are "between" two cultures and two languages as a magnifying lens to highlight the strong cultural connotation of food and food words as carriers of symbolic meanings: they qualify as essential elements for the construction of self-identity and the definition of a person's, a community's or a social group's identity, social collocation, and ethnicity. In Vidal and Faber's article this theme is connected with that of the meaning and value of translation in a post-colonial context. Linguistic aspects The request to comment on this article has been especially welcome to me, as the relationship between food, culture, language, and translation was central to my research for a few years as I was among the coordinators of a project entitled "Words for food" (2011-2016) (cf. Garzone 2015) aimed at exploring the value, meaning and linguistic designation of food in different languages and cultures. The project, occasioned by Milan Expo 2015 whose themeas is well known-was "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life", provided an excellent opportunity to reflect on the value and significance of words for food at a time when in developed countries discourses on food are proliferating especially in the media and in entertainment contexts (e.g. in TV programmes, food blogs, chef demonstrations, recipe books, etc). In the project, a wide range of different aspects related to food discourses, food cultures, food production, distribution and safety, and to scientific research in the biotech and agrofood sector were explored, but attention was also given to the political significance of food. Especially topical in this respect is the Milan Charter (http://carta.milano.it/en/ [20/07/2017]), a document in 19 languages launched during Expo 2015 as a counterpart to the essentially commercial focus of the event, to assert the idea that the right to foo...

Okra in translation

“…Because of the complex ramifications of food's meaning, the transmission and reframing of food discourses often represents a particular challenge from a translator's point of view. Food may apparently resist translation, because food-related words always point to meaning that is at one time embodied and linked to sociocultural norms, for which there may be no ready-made words in the target language (Garzone, 2017). That does not make food-related language untranslatable, but it requires the translating individual to engage deeply with the complexity of food's meaning.…”

Çeviri, yemek ve kültür ilişkisi: Altyazı çevirisinde kültüre özgü mutfak terimlerinin aktarımı

“…Giuliana Garzone de yemeğin gelenekle ve kimlikle ilişkisini ele alır ve özellikle kimliğini kaybetme korkusu yaşayan topluluklar için mutfak geleneklerinin korunmasının çok büyük önem taşıdığını vurgular (Garzone, 2017). Garzone'ye göre, asimetrik güç ilişkilerinin yaşandığı sömürgecilik sonrası bağlamlarda ya da entegrasyon ve asimilasyon meselelerinin gündeme geldiği göçle ilgili süreçlerde mutfak kültürünün canlı tutulması, geleneğin korunmasına yarayan bir araç olarak özel bir önem kazanır (Garzone, 2017: 217).…”

Osmaniye Mutfak Kültüründe Yer Alan Yemek Ritüelleri Üzerine Bir Araştırma

“…Aynı zamanda, gerçekleştirilen yemekli ritüellerde hazırlanan yemekler toplumların somut kültürel mirasları olarak kabul edilmektedir (Andarabi ve Hassan, 2019: 176). Garzone (2017) özellikle kimliğini kaybetme korkusu yaşayan topluluklar için somut kültürel miras kapsamında mutfak geleneklerinin korunmasının önemli olduğunu belirtmektedir. Yemek, tarihsel süreç içinde biyolojik ihtiyaç dışında kültürel, dinsel ve toplumsal kimliği ifade etmenin bir aracı olarak da önem kazanmış (Ay ve Şahin, 2014: 331) ve yiyeceklerin üretilmesi, taşınması, depolanması ve tüketimi aşamasında ortaya çıkan farklı toplumsal birliktelikler ve ritüeller kültürün beslenmedeki önemini ortaya koymuştur (Beşirli, 2010: 159).…”