Book Reviews by Bethlehem Attfield
Korea Literature Now, Vol. 57, 2022
Although the global popularity of Korean pop music and film has spread to Ethiopia, 'From Wonso P... more Although the global popularity of Korean pop music and film has spread to Ethiopia, 'From Wonso Pond' is probably the first classical Korean novel to be translated into Amharic. Ethiopia with a population of over 115 million people has a thriving literary tradition and publishing industry in local languages, particularly in Amharic. Recently however, there has been a growing trend of translating bestselling Western novels into Amharic.
Academic Article by Bethlehem Attfield
Global Literary Theory, 2024
In Ethiopia, Adam Reta (born in 1958) is highly regarded for his creativity in crafting exception... more In Ethiopia, Adam Reta (born in 1958) is highly regarded for his creativity in crafting exceptionally resonant stories, as well as his commitment to expanding narrative knowledge and aesthetic appreciation across the country. His study of narration in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, has resulted in a set of innovative narratological principles which he calls hitsinawinet. Based on the concept of hitsen, which refers to inevitable gaps within a text, Reta formulated this framework of gap-filling using the interconnection of events in a story. (https://medium.com/global-literary-theory/an-ethiopian-story-about-food-and-fortune-telling-e366dbdf675c)
Media and Intercultural Communications, 2023
Building on a comparative literary analysis of two translated African short stories, this researc... more Building on a comparative literary analysis of two translated African short stories, this research examines whether culture-specific metaphors and symbolisms effectively enrich the texture of a translated text or detract the reader from following the narration. It then takes into account critical reception of such culture-loaded stories, for developing an effective translation theoretical framework. Considering that the source texts are written in Arabic and Amharic, both Semitic languages with long literary traditions, the article particularly sets out to adopt a translation approach that focuses on power and means to keep their literary and cultural integrity. The decision to adopt Deleuze and Guattari's minor literature, as a basis for translation theory is highly influenced by Reta's, the Amharic author's Hitsinawinet narrative theory. The maze like framework that Hitsinawinet uses is inspired by the concept of 'rhizome' to effectively map out the complex and fragmented history of Ethiopia. The first draft of the Amharic translation is done based on a translation framework formulated by adopting the concept of rhizome as a map. This concept enables constant modifications, incorporating readers' views through focused group discussions. These complementary methods can facilitate a broader, more dynamic depiction that does not undermine the integrity of source text.
Drafts by Bethlehem Attfield
Goodreads Book Review, 2022
This is a story of a young man who constantly had to change his identities to survive political, ... more This is a story of a young man who constantly had to change his identities to survive political, social and cultural brutalities flung at him through out his entire life. The protagonist who goes by different names traverses through national boarders with different national and religious identities in search of liberty. Born out of wedlock to Eritrean parents on active duty during the war for independence, Adal was communally raised by the army and belonged to army. Growing up in the battlefield, what he learned was hard physical labour, and dealing with trauma, while learning languages and storytelling. When he was forced to flee his country, all of these skills became handy for survival, particularly, effortlessly fabricating stories. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61115669-black-foam
Conference Presentations by Bethlehem Attfield
African Studies Association UK (ASAUK) Conference, 2024
African realities and culture have often been misinterpreted and will continue to do so if domina... more African realities and culture have often been misinterpreted and will continue to do so if dominant Anglophone theories and interpretive frameworks are used. If this trend continues there is a high probability that Large Language Models in Artificial Intelligence will be modelled with the same monocultural perspective and will continue to distort African representations.
UCL 'Nothing Happened' Conference Paper, 2023
This conference paper was presented at UCL 'Nothing Happened' conference https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ss... more This conference paper was presented at UCL 'Nothing Happened' conference https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/sites/ssees/files/nothing_happened_provisional_programme.pdf
With a manuscript writing and translation tradition that dates as far back as late antiquity, Ethiopia offers a significant case for translation studies. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church plays a crucial role in carrying on exegetical studies to this day. However, despite the existence of a large corpus of fiction predominantly written in Amharic, translation in this genre is neglected. To solve this anomaly, research carried out for this study recommends developing a translation framework that takes historicity into account. The need to focus on the notion of 'meaning' via an iterative interpretive process was also highlighted. Such processes fittingly involve decentring the mono-cultural premises yet universal claims of translation studies via etymological investigation. This paper then explores the country's long history of manuscript writing and translation, which is undermined not only by translation studies but also unwittingly by postcolonial literary criticism. Finally, it suggests using the Ethiopian tradition of Qine hermeneutics as a framework to develop an indigenous translation theory: one that does not compromise the literary and cultural integrity of Amharic fiction. Besides boosting indigenous language literary translation, such a theoretical framework contributes to existing efforts that aim to diversify epistemologies in translation studies.
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Book Reviews by Bethlehem Attfield
Academic Article by Bethlehem Attfield
Drafts by Bethlehem Attfield
Conference Presentations by Bethlehem Attfield
With a manuscript writing and translation tradition that dates as far back as late antiquity, Ethiopia offers a significant case for translation studies. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church plays a crucial role in carrying on exegetical studies to this day. However, despite the existence of a large corpus of fiction predominantly written in Amharic, translation in this genre is neglected. To solve this anomaly, research carried out for this study recommends developing a translation framework that takes historicity into account. The need to focus on the notion of 'meaning' via an iterative interpretive process was also highlighted. Such processes fittingly involve decentring the mono-cultural premises yet universal claims of translation studies via etymological investigation. This paper then explores the country's long history of manuscript writing and translation, which is undermined not only by translation studies but also unwittingly by postcolonial literary criticism. Finally, it suggests using the Ethiopian tradition of Qine hermeneutics as a framework to develop an indigenous translation theory: one that does not compromise the literary and cultural integrity of Amharic fiction. Besides boosting indigenous language literary translation, such a theoretical framework contributes to existing efforts that aim to diversify epistemologies in translation studies.
With a manuscript writing and translation tradition that dates as far back as late antiquity, Ethiopia offers a significant case for translation studies. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church plays a crucial role in carrying on exegetical studies to this day. However, despite the existence of a large corpus of fiction predominantly written in Amharic, translation in this genre is neglected. To solve this anomaly, research carried out for this study recommends developing a translation framework that takes historicity into account. The need to focus on the notion of 'meaning' via an iterative interpretive process was also highlighted. Such processes fittingly involve decentring the mono-cultural premises yet universal claims of translation studies via etymological investigation. This paper then explores the country's long history of manuscript writing and translation, which is undermined not only by translation studies but also unwittingly by postcolonial literary criticism. Finally, it suggests using the Ethiopian tradition of Qine hermeneutics as a framework to develop an indigenous translation theory: one that does not compromise the literary and cultural integrity of Amharic fiction. Besides boosting indigenous language literary translation, such a theoretical framework contributes to existing efforts that aim to diversify epistemologies in translation studies.