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The Asian Conference on Arts and Cultures, June 13-14, 2013. Srinakharinwirot University,

Bangkok, Thailand

Navigating Lese Majeste: Translation, Resistance, Hermeneutics or The Triptych: (Un)concealing

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TranslationDRAFT PAPER- UNDER REVIEW- FEEDBACK WELCOME:[email protected]

Cutter StreebyUniversity Redacted

Abstract

In this paper I formulate a tripartite structure for translating the Thai poetry of Zakariya

Amatayainto English. The structure integrates the original poem, a literal translation and the final

Englishtranslation. The new structure, or triptych, utilizes a uniquely hermeneutical approach

and provides the translator with the freedom necessary to navigate the textual/cultural aspects

ofAmatayas writing, namely his style (metaphor vs. metonymy, etc.) and his ability to resist

thetextual/cultural confines of Article 112 ( Lese Majeste) of Thailands Constitution. I offer

mytarget reader a complete, faithful enunciation of the original Thai piece into English by

utilizingthe framework of the triptych. The final translation resists assimilating the source piece

byexploiting the opposition between the two English variants (literal translation vs

finaltranslation). This opposition offers a successful foreignization of the original piece

andencourages intercultural transaction between source and target audience (and vice versa)

whilesuccessfully interrogating the literary tropes utilized by Amataya. Further, I outline

Amatayasapproach to and engagement with the role literature plays in contemporary resistance

tocensorship in Thailand.

Keywords:

poetry, Amataya, skopos, translation theory, intercultural exchange, Lese Majeste,Thai poetry,

hermeneutics, foreignization

Research Methods:

Qualitative, participatory, interview, textual/structural analysis

Findings:

The new triptych structure allows translators to effectively navigate potentiallyuntenable

situations encountered with the traditional, bilingual formatting (i.e. a poet beingsubject to Article

112 versus a translator working outside the confines of Article 112). Thisstructure allows for the

successful foreignization of lexicons/alphabets with no overlappingcharacter systems. By applying

hermeneutics to translation, this new structure allows for a morecomplete enunciation of the

original piece in the target language/culture.


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Unconcealment is opening or clearing, while truth in all its forms is an event that takes place

within the clearing.Without the opening there would be no free space for the event of truth to

take place.- Cf. Martin Heidegger, DasEnde der Philosophie und die Aufgabe des Denkens in Zur

Sache des Denkens (Tbingen: Max Niemeyer 1976), p.77- VIA, Vladislav Suvk. The Essence ofTruth (aletheia) and the Western Tradition in the Thought of Heidegger and Patocka. In: Thinking

Fundamentals, IWMJunior Visiting Fellows Conferences, Vol. 9: Vienna 2000, pg 12

The Asian Conference on Arts and Cultures, June 13-14, 2013. Srinakharinwirot University,

Bangkok, Thailand

IntroductionReading a translation as a translation means not just processing its meaning but

reflecting on itsconditions-- formal features like the dialects and registers, styles and discourses in

which it iswritten, but also seemingly external factors like the cultural situation in which it is read

which*have+ a decisive influence on the translators choices. (Venuti, 1995, p. 276)Literary

translation is a process where source information becomes target information (both theformal

and the external factors); this information is firstly articulated by the sourcetext/culture and

must achieve a complete enunciation (representation) to be successful in thetarget text/culture.

Being able to experience translation as translation necessitates that our targetreader (English) be

unsettled or destructured during the everyday process of reading in hisown language. The

comfortable security of the reader must be stripped in order for the reader toremain aware that

the information being processed is in fact from a different language/culture.This everydayness of

experiencing translated poetry as English language poetry depends on theextent of assimilation of

the source piece. As a translator, how can we resist this assimilation (inthe sense of submission) of

source information by target language? Venutis prescription is toforeignize

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the translation. In the spirit of this idea, I have attempted to conceive a slightlydifferent approach

to the translation of poetry, specifically in the structure of the translations publication which will

encourage foreignization between source and target texts.In translating the poetry of Zakariya

Amataya from Thai (where Article 112:

Lese Majeste

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is an immediate concern to writers, academics and politicians) to English (where thisArticle is

foreign, or at least not an immediate concern), I believe the only way to successfullyrepresent

Amatayas poetry and its cultural situation is to revise the accepted view thattranslation

presupposes a type of movement ( from source text/culture to target text/culture)- i.e.the

traditional, bilingual publication method of source text faced by target text. Rather, a

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The idea of foreignizing versus domesticating translation was set down by Lawrence Venuti

(Venuti, 1995). It isan idea based on the level of assimilation of a translated piece- i.e. does the

translated version convey both themeaning and the foreign external features of the original

piece. In the following section, I utilize a foreignizingtechnique when translating the poetry of Luis

Felipe Fabre able to preserve the original Spanish music and conveythe English meaning.

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The Thai constitution includes the clause: The King shall be enthroned in a position of revered

worship and shallnot be violated. No person shall expose the King to any sort of accusation or

action. Article 112 states: Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, the Heir-

apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonmentof three to fifteen years.Streeby | 1

'The Asian Conference on Arts and Cultures, June 13-14, 2013. Srinakharinwirot University,

Bangkok, Thailand

successful English translation of Amatayas poetry must meld the original piece

into

the target piece in such a way as to encourage cultural enquiry by the Western world. This alloy

must havea transparent framework which clearly represents both the source text and my

decisions astranslator/mediator when creating a functioning representation in English.In this

paper, I will outline a new tripartite layout for the translation of poetry in whichthe original work is

displayed with an integrated literal (cognate) representation in English- thisdual part source piece

will be placed on the opposing page of the translated English piece.This new formulation willaccomplish two things: it will give my readers a clear sense of what isstated in the original (under

Article 112), and it will make my decisions as translator (outsideArticle 112) completely apparent.

The intrasemiotic opposition of the English texts (literal versustranslated) will serve to foreignize

my English variant and to underscore the cultural divide between the source and target texts. With

this structure I am able to offer my reader a way tosuccessfully engage with both the verbal

aspects (literal translation) and the cultural aspects(final translation). For bilingual readers, the

English translation will bring a new constellation of meaning to the original.This tripartite

formulation as a

whole

is the translation; it is a mutual exchange whichincorporates individual reader response into the

act of translation- there is no movement

from

source language


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to

target language, instead there is now a literary triptych representing theexchanges (both formal

and external) occurring within the text: original/cognate,cognate/translation,

original/translation, and reader/translator. This hermeneutic structureempowers the target

audience and allows them to judge my translation as a translation. Indisclosing the as-structure ofa thing, *e.g.+ the hammer as a hammer *or translation astranslation+, interpretation discloses its

meaning. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005)It is the framework

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of my translation, the transparent exchange between source and target thatinsures my version is

a complete enunciation of the original piece. Intercultural exchange is Godin this triptych: source

text versus target text, verbal representation versus cultural representation,author versus

translator, the readers individual response to the literal versus my final decisionsas translator in

the final. It is the opposition, the in-between-ness of these three pieces whichwill reveal the

art(work), and allow my reader to locate truth in both the source and the target

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The theoretical framework for this tripartite formula is drawn from the Heideggers conceptions of

Dasein(Heidegger, 1971 & 2008).Streeby | 2


Bangkok, Thailand

languages. The individuated response garnered by comparison between the readers

owninterpretation of the literal version (a working copy) and my translation will foreignize


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allsubsequent versions and discourage appropriation by the target language. Within

thishermeneutic framework, we will be able to read the final translation as a

translation.Alphabets: Foreignizing the ForeignI subscribe to the practice of foreignizing

translationthis practice makes the final piece more powerful (Venuti, 1995). It is easier to

foreignize a translation (while establishing meaning) if source and target texts have similar

alphabet systems. For instance, when encountering aSpanish-to-English translation, as a Western

audience, we know, generally, what soundscorrespond to what letters; therefore, when we read a

translation like the following from the poetry of Luis Felipe Fabre (Doris Njera y el detective

Ramrez, trans. Streeby,

Modern Poetry in Translation,

2013):like fate :

as la suerte

,like death :

as la muerte

,like love :

as el amor

.As a Western reader, we are able to comprehend the meaning in the translated version while

stillrecognizing the Spanish music in the lines. We are able to understand that the original has

adifferent rhythm and rhyme scheme compared with the English variantand this without

prior knowledge of the Spanish language.In Thai, however, things are far from simple. Developing

a foreignizing technique for Thai (with the target audience being Western) offers unique

challenges, ones not necessarilyinherent in translating Spanish, Italian, or other poetries where

the source alphabet and the targetalphabet are similar. When we translate between overlapping

alphabet systems, we are able to process the general sounds and rhythms of the source language

(demonstrated above)but if welook at

(tonight), the Thai alphabet is completely foreign visually and phonetically. Itis so foreign as to

discourage audience engagement. Therefore, if we attempt to incorporate thesame foreignizing

strategy employed with the Spanish translation (namely leaving the original,or parts of the original

intact), the translation of Amataya results in complete disorientation for

Streeby | 3


Bangkok, Thailand


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the Western reader. The Western audience is locked out of the piece because we do not

knowwhat sounds correspond to the written characterswe are at a loss as to how to process the

text.Foreignizing a translation from Thai affords a unique paradox: how can we

successfullyforeignize something so completely foreign?There are many different tactics I could

have chosen to resolve this dilemma, two of which will be considered here. The argument may be

made that it is the readers inability toapproach the text that is the true foreignizing tactic (Ezra

Pounds Chinese character/ Germanlanguage in the Canto LI)and perhaps the better approach

for foreignizing this piece. Thesecond argument is for a Romanized version of the text, a

homophonic translation, among the best examples of which is Louis Zukofskys rendering of

Catullus. However, both of theseapproaches are insufficient in establishing meaning which

becomes particularly important in the poetry of Amataya, a poetry that offers a unique political

perspective and manages to create aWestern/Thai hybrid absent in the Thai literary canon before

him (more on this later). FollowingPounds approach would leave my audience with a definite

understanding of the foreign natureof Amatayas work, but would not succeed in elucidating the

concepts, i.e. what is culturally and politically at stake in the piece. Following Zukofskys method

would illustrate the music andalliterative nature of Thai poetry, but again, the meaning would be

sacrificed. Completetransference of the message (political/ cultural meaning) while successfully

foreignizing the poetry of Amataya is my central goal; therefore, I opted for the triptych method

outlined in theintroduction.To foreignize the Amataya piece, I have elected to place two English

versions inopposition to one another. The intrasemiotic variance will force my readers to question

thedecisions I make as translator. This variance is a destructuring introduced in order to

attemptto trace that which throws views, values, and constructs into question in order to let the

world,self and other be encountered (Nelson, 2011, p. 272). Why, for instance, does the final title

readIn the back room when the original says in that room? Why make explicit

Lese Majeste

inthe final piece when in the original this is conspicuously absent? The destructuring between

theEnglish versions successfully resists assimilation into the target language while intimating

themessage in Amatayas poetry. The questions forced between my English variants

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and the

5

The discrepancy between my English variants seeks to disrupt Dasein from its neutrality, in what

*Heidegger+calls the indifference of everydayness (e.g. reading in the English language)within

this structure, readingtranslation becomes a situation that broaches the significance of being and

the self by placing this indifference intoquestion (Nelson, 2011, p. 273).Streeby | 4


Bangkok, Thailand


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original piece encourage my reader to carry out a disciplined investigation of those

everydaymodes of engagement [in this case, reading in the English language+ *the+ first step

towardsrevealing a shared but hidden underlying meaning of Being (Wheeler, Michael, 2013).

Thistripartite formulation and the confrontation produced between its three parts is the key to

asuccessful enunciation of Amatayas politics and beautythis tactic is also ethically

valuable because these confrontations engage and potentially release their own tradition,

historicity, andhermeneutical situation (Nelson, 2011).Chasing Ricoeur

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In our age of (the valorization of) migrancy, exile and diaspora, the word translationseems to

have come full circle and reverted from its figurative literary meaning of aninterlingual transaction

to its etymological physical meaning of locational disrupture;translation itself seems to have been

translated back to its origins. As Andr Lefeveresuggested, the time may have come to move

beyond the word as such, to promote it tothe realm of metaphor, so to speak, and leave it there

(Lefevere 1994:vii) (Bassnett &Trivedi 1999:13)

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(Shadd 2012: 161)What does it mean to promote *translation+ into the realm of metaphor? As

practitioners, if weare to follow Ricoeur and encourage the adoption of translation as an ethical

model for dealingwith political and cultural challenges facing the emerging international

community, (Shadd,2012) we need to implement Lefeveres advice and move beyond the

traditional definition of translation as interlingual transaction. Conservative members of

translation studies will alwaysquestion a final products faithfulness to the original piece and in

instances where the final product is judged too far from the original, will pejoratively term the

translation a version.Judging a translation in this way discourages any effective reach into therealm of metaphor.The dichotomy of the two-part, bilingual publication format, like this outdated

definition, ismuch too reductive and limits the options translators have when attempting to follow

Lefeverescultural approach to translation. By design, the hermeneutical layout I utilize allows

thetranslator to move beyond the outdated discrepancy between a version and a translation.

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Shadd, 2012, p.158-169.

7

ibid, p. 161.Streeby | 5


Bangkok, Thailand

While it is important that the audience be apprised of a literal rendering of the original,

thetranslator must also have the freedom necessary to create an effective version in the


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targetlanguage (enter Pounds Frigidaire) able to reflect translations physical meaning of

locationaldisrupture.The triptych structure satisfies both aspects. The condition of the

conventional argumentfor correct and faithful translation is met (what can be more faithful

than a literal version:word-by-word, line-by-line of the source piece?) while providing an avenue

for more effective,creative translation. Because my audience is given the literal version, they will

be able toformulate a working copy for themselvesthis personal version will not only

encourage(inter/intra)cultural communication but will also allow the audience to judge my final

translationas a translation. Glossing Gadamer and McDowell:Maintaining this openness of

vocabulary, this tentativeness of phrase and of re-phrasing,is from a hermeneutic perspective a

guiding norm of any genuine dialogue. The reason isthat only in such openness are new truths able

to emerge,

truths that are not simply ayielding of one position to another

, but a genuine preservation of the insight containedin either.

(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005, emphasis mine)

Streeby | 6


Bangkok, Thailand

Because I have satisfied the conventional definition of translation with the literal version

(verbalaspect), I am free to experiment and reach into the realm of metaphor in the final

translation(cultural aspect). Because of this structure, I am confident the audience will be aware of

mydecisions as translator and feel confident in entering a dialogue with the original piece, its

cultureand also with myself as mediator for the target language/culture. This hermeneutical

structure isan interface for intercultural exchange, for dialogue, for furthering the understanding

of sourcelanguage/culture in relation to target language/culture: each reader will have an

individuatedresponse to the original piece/final translation based on their initial working copy.

Theaudience will have the tools to effectively judge my textual machinations as machinations;

whenI reach into the realm of metaphor my audience will be able to engage (and agree or

disagree)with my choice of cultural comparison: effectively opening a dialogue between

author/translator,reader/translator and source/target cultures.Cultural Analogy: Amatayas Style

in the Realm of Metaphor Thai poetry (and its critical reception) is traditionally based on the

artists ability to uphold thecanons received forms and meters. In fact, until Amataya, the SEA

Write Award was presentedto poets who wrote predominately in these received forms. It was

Amatayas successful adoptionof free-verse, a blend of various texts and styles without a fixed

metrical pattern (Committeeof Thailands SEA Write Award: 2010) which prompted his collection

to sweep the award,receiving the jurys first unanimous decision in its thirty-two year history. This


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is one of the mostchallenging aspects of translating Amataya for a Western audience: his stylea

style heavilyinfluenced by the Western poetic canon (Amataya adapts pieces originally composed

in Englishas well as English translationse.g. Caesar Vallejo, Zbigniew Herbert, Charles

Baudelaire).How then, to demonstrate Amatayas innovative free-verse and his adaptation of

Western workswhen my target audience is Western, a tradition where free-verse is the dominant

norm? I optedto enhance Amatayas structural components and make more explicit the

conceptual aspects of

Streeby | 7


Bangkok, Thailand

this piece.

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Firstly, I will address modifications to the structure of the original. It is clear thatAmatayas piece

utilizes a descending stanza structure (two 3-line stanzas, two 2-line stanzas,one 1-line stanza)

which provides the final line with an effective visual close, accenting the poems indictment of

silence. This silence is especially devastating in a poetic canon that doesnot normally incorporate

this type of experimental form. In transforming this silence for aWestern audience, I adapt the

structure and make it more visually prominent (5-4-3-2-1). Thisoffers a more effective correlation

for an audience conditioned to free-verse. The difference infinal line count is addressed with the

cultural cognate I chose to illustrate Amatayas innovationwithin the Thai literary

canon.Amatayas innovative mode of expression, his adaptations of Mahmoud Darwish,

hisresponse to an English translation of

Les Fleurs du mal

not only are the roots of his writingapparent, he is able to assimilate these disparate origins to

move beyond the pastiche. Hisadaptations are so successful that his first published collection,

No Women in Poetry

(SEA Write2010) sold over 30,000 copies and is already a modern classic in Thailand. How to

capture thisaspect of his work for my Western audience? Because I utilize the triptych structure

which provides the audience with a literal working copy (verbal aspect), I am free to experiment,

toreach into my target culture and fashion an effective analogy for Amatayas style.

9

As a culturalcognate for his innovations in the Thai canon, I elected to invoke a metaphor

immediatelyrecognizable to my target audience: film, specifically Film Noir. Roman Jakobson sees

film as abasically metonymic medium, metonymy can be applied to an object that is


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visibly present but which represents another object or subject to which it is related but which

isabsent (Chandler, 2013).

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More explicit refers to how Amatayas source audience understands the piece: e.g. metonymy

is Amatayasvehicle for circumventing Article 112, and his audience understands and can engage

with the meaning behind thistechnique.

9

Amataya utilizes metonymy in the original piece, a technique which relies on culturally

conditioned knowledge; because my audience lacks this knowledge, I elect to transform this

metonymy into a metaphor my audience would be able to understand (more on this in the

following section). This choice has many other implications and needsfurther explication.

However, the constraints on length make this impossible here.Streeby | 8


Bangkok, Thailand

This is a compelling analogy because it allows me to create the close-up, chiaroscuro effect wesee

in interrogations in Film Noir: this can stand for the type of interrogation Amataya isintimating in

the original piece. Also, the disparate roots of Film Noir (Germany, France, etc

.

);its obvious adoption by American cinema; and its lasting impact (

Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane,Stranger on the Third Floor

, etc.) match the type of synchronization of styles we see in the poetry of Amataya.The choice to

translate Amatayas innovations of style and content as cinematic/black-and-white/Film Noir may

be termed a version by conservative members in the field whosubscribe to translation as an

interlingual transactionbut the final triptych clearly aspires totranslations etymological

physical meaning of locational *cultural+ disrupture. The questionsraised by this tripartite

translation will be different questions than those raised by the traditional, bilingual publication

format. What before may have been questions of equivalency andinterlingual correctness,

become, in this new paradigm, questions of morality and of ethics. Is itmorally correct to draw

such an anachronistic equation between contemporary Thai poetrywritten under Article 112 andan interrogation scene from the 1940s? Is it ethical for me toimply that the distinction between

Thai and Western culture (freedom of speech) is effectivelyblack-and-white? It isnt the answers

to these questions that matterit is the fact that mytranslation successfully raises them in the

first place. It is these questions which commend mytranslation as being a

complete


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enunciation of the original piece. If we are to adopt translation asan ethical model, as Ricoeur

suggests (Shadd, 2012), then these are the questions we need bothsource and target cultures to

encounter.Translating Metonymy: The Politics of White Space Now we move to the most

controversial aspect (in Thailand, at least) of my translation, theinclusion of

Lese Majeste

in the title line.At this juncture, I would like to take a moment to make clear a few things: 1)

Nowhere inthe printed pieces (the original, the literal, or my translation), can there be shown any

disparagingwords or remarks directed toward the royal family of Thailand, the monarchy as an

institution, or the King. There are no incendiary remarks printed in the any of these three texts

that may standas an indictment of the monarchy of Thailand or its ruling family. There are no

printed violations

Streeby | 9

'The Asian Conference on Arts and Cultures, June 13-14, 2013. Srinakharinwirot University,Bangkok, Thailand

of Article 112; this poem is specifically about the constitutional Article itself, how it is enforcedin

Thailand and the scare-monger

10

effect it has on society at large.

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2) The views described arethe poets viewsAmatayas and my own. We make no claims to speak

for anyone butourselves. Amataya was consulted regularly during the translation of this piece. His

approval wasexplicit and unequivocal at all stages of its translation (specifically the use of

Lese Majeste

inthe title). He approved this written explication. This consultation was undertaken in order

toinsure that the final translation would be a true translation.Continuing: How does a poet

operate under the precepts of a constitutional article that prohibits certain words, tropes or

attitudes? How does a poet, engaged in the critique of society,navigate prison and censorship

while addressing the white space

12

of Article 112:

Lese Majeste


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? Weve had to develop techniques, ways of getting around this, Amataya told me inFebruary,

2013. We have a simple message: these things are bad *the imprisonment and death of61-year-

old Ar Kong who allegedly violated

Lese Majeste

with four SMS messages, whomthis poem takes as inspiration]

13

but how can we talk about the

reason

it happened? I use this poem but I am opposite the giants of power in Thailand, so I say XXX and

*my reader+knows it means XXX

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anyone who is aware ofwhat is happening in Thailand can easily getthe message.

15

The practice Amataya relates here is metonymy: replacing the formal name of anentity or object

with a piece, attribute or article related to it (e.g. green for money; the use of

the crown

to refer to a monarch

16

). How then to fully articulate this aspect of Amatayas work?How to effectively illustrate to my

target audience the idea that when a reader from Thai culture,aware of its current political

circumstances, reads Dragon Fruit in this poem he equates thismetonymic feature with the most

recent

Lese Majeste

violation or trial?

10

Bail appears to be systematically denied to members of the Red Shirts while they await trial for

Lese Majeste,said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Denial of bail seems to be

for punishment rather than for justified reasons (Anon., 2012).

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Twenty years in prison for four SMS messages (Prachatai, 2011). The editor of this website,

Prachatai.com, isnow in jail for alleged violations of Lese Majesete.

12

The idea behind white space comes from an interview with Slavoj Zizek. He is telling a story of a

little girl inBerlin before the wall was demolished. She climbs to a vantage point where she can see

over the wall and says,Look mommy! There are people there! It isnt all white space!

13

Amphon Tangnoppaku (known as Ar Kong, or Uncle SMS by the media) was a 61 year old man

arrested for textmessages allegedly violating Lese Majeste. He was sentenced to prison for twenty

years. He died after serving threemonths (Article 19, 2012).

14

The examples of metonymy I draw in the following analysis have no relation to the words or works

of Amataya,and are my own.

15

Conversation with Amataya, February 24th

, 2013 V64 Art Studio, Bangkok, Thailand.

16

Random House, 2013.Streeby | 10


Bangkok, Thailand

The choice to substitute an extended metaphor for Amatayas metonymy was necessary because

the knowledge needed to successfully interpret this metonymy is culturally conditioned,e.g. when

in Thailand I can say, Be careful, dont forget the Hamburger Crisis, and everyone Ispeak with will

check the true value on their real estate holdings because in Thailand we knowthat Hamburger

Crisis refers to the US economic collapse predicated on the fall of the housingmarket. Outside of

Thailand, this metonymic figure of speech

17

is ineffective; the audience would be unable to process or react to my warning. As I mentioned

earlier, I chose film as the vehicle torepresent Amatayas metonymy. My metaphor

18

utilizes films basically metonymiccharacteristics (the close-up, chiaroscuro lighting to highlight

certain features) which allow asuccessful cultural mapping for my target audience. As Western


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readers, the clichd swinginglight of the interrogation room is immediately identifiable (hence

clichd) and places my reader within this context. Selecting Film Noir to translate Amataya to a

Western audience alsoillustrates Jakobsons idea that metaphor implies an a-temporal connection

between sign andsignifier. The ethical, moral implications of this representation will encourage

interculturalexchange (debate) between both target and source audiences.I believe Article 112

needs to be translated in its entirety in order for my translation toachieve a complete enunciation

in the target language/culture, therefore I signpost Lese Majeste in the title line. This

information will also help my audience understand what risks Amataya istaking when writing this

piece in the source culture. If I do not illustrate the truth of Article 112to my Western audience

(who are free from this type of censorship) they will not be able torecognize what is at stake in this

piece, nor the meaning behind Amatayas metonymythroughout. The juxtaposition between the

final piece (outside Article 112) and the original,working copy (under Article 112) should

encourage intercultural communication from bothsource culture and target culture.Conclusions

17

In reference to large-scale crises, Thais use the food of the culture as a metonymic representation

for the countriesname, i.e. the US economic crisis becomes the Hamburger Crisis.

18

Most linguists will be quick to indicate that metaphor and metonymy exist on a spectrum where

one is notimmediately distinguishable from the other except in extreme cases. I agree with this,

and even in the Amataya piece, metaphor is utilized to drive the poem. But the dialectical

opposition between the two tropes is invaluable for encouraging cultural/academic enquiry.

Because I specifically notate the original as being metonymic and thetranslation as being

metaphoric, I encourage my target audience to analyze these tropes and understand howAmatayamust write in order to avoid censorship. Is this faithful?Streeby | 11


Bangkok, Thailand

The triptych method is a simple enough adjustment to established translation practice. The

literalversion and a translators working copy are basic steps in producing the traditional bi-

lingualtranslation. By including a literal version in the source material, I thereby satisfy the

verbalaspect of translation because I am able to give my reader a rough copy of the text in

English.This personalized working copy becomes a rubric for comparison against the

culturaltranslation I am able to create in place of the traditional, interlingual translation. This

three-parttranslation serves to promote intercultural exchange by offering a complete enunciation

of thesource piece in the target context: the reader experiences their own translation verses

mycultural translation and can draw their own conclusions.While this triptych formula offers a

huge amount of latitude to the translator to reach amore complete cultural cognate, I believe its

structure may also promote a more sinister type of domestication, one more subversive than the

assimilation techniques in traditional bi-lingualformat. It is at my discretion to include footnotes in


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the triptych, and I am able to select thesefootnotes to stand in for an entire culture or tradition.

My reader will be more inclined to followthe footnotes as they become a sort of base from which

conclusions regarding the cultural piece are made. This unique problem may be exploited by

translators when choosing thecontext with which to cast their literal versions of the source

piece. In particular for this piece,any quotations or citations of material perceived to violate

Lese Majeste

results in imprisonment,therefore I have chosen to use quotations from Wikipedia rather than put

anyone at risk. Evenwhen citing articles published outside of Thailand, journalists and human

rights groups requestthe citation read Anon.The differences in metonymy and metaphor have

been addressed by many linguistics andsemiotics specialists, but I believe the poetry of Amataya

and other artists operating under Article112 offer a unique perspective for continued scholarship:

namely the role of metaphor andmetonymy in literary resistance.An astute reader will notice my

university affiliation has been redacted, this at theinsistence of senior members of my staff.

Reactions of this sort are unwarranted as there are noinstances in the original poem, my

translation or this paper that infringe upon Article 112.

Streeby | 12


Bangkok, Thailand

/(In) (that) (room)

19

/

/

/

/


16/29

/

/

/

(In) (room) (trial/to make judgment over a legal case) (secret) (that) (

)

20

(close) (die/dead)

21

/

/

22

/

/

/


17/29

/

(Words) (that/those) (hammered/fixed with a nail) (with) (nail) (

)

23

(gold)

/

/

/

/

/

/

(Blood) (flow) (overflow) (over/exceed) (anklebone) (cloak) (justice)

24


18/29

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

(In) (room) (that) (frame) (wood) (painted) (already) (laughing)

/

/

/

/


19/29

(Table) (chair) (refuse/reject) (cooperation)

25

(to be in a dilemma/sickly/nauseated by something you are forced to do)

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

(Scale)(hell)(heaven)(bend) (crooked) (almost) (run out of) (merit)

26

/

/


20/29

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

(In) (room) (that) (even) (death) (

) (ashamed/shunning/intimidated) (to) (will) (die)

/

/

/


21/29

/

/

/

/

(Even) (words) (vulgar/rude) (

) (ashamed/shunning/intimidated) (to) (will) (vulgar/rude)

/

/

/

/

/

/


22/29

(Words) (that) (hammered/fixed with a nail) (with) (nail) (

) (gold)

19

The literal version of this piece was provided and corroborated by outside sources who asked not

to be named inthis paper or subsequent publications of the final translated piece.

20

indicates passive voice

21

is literally "dead closed" = closed permanently

22

Passive voice in Thai is often written in the form of active voice- like in this case: "Those words

hammered..." ="Those words are hammered". /

is also alliteration [read: Tok - Treung]

23

is a quantitative pronoun for a nail

24

The predominant literary technique utilized in the original piece is metonymy: replacing the formal

name of anentity or object with a piece, attribute or article related to it (e.g. green for money;

the use of

the crown


23/29

to refer toa monarch)the examples given here are quoted directly from Dictionary.com.

25

normally means "the duties (ceremonies) performed by four or more monks" - but in this context,

I believe it means "to get together and do something or to become a part of an action"

26

= "run out of merit" is a Thai expression means "to die"Streeby | 13


Bangkok, Thailand

/

/

/

/

/

/


24/29

(Blood) (flow) (overflow) (over/exceed) (anklebone) (cloak) (justice)

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

!(In) (room) (that) (room) (that) (room) (which) (

)

27


25/29

(close) (die/dead)

27

in this context indicates the passive voiceStreeby | 14


Bangkok, Thailand

Lese Majeste

28

: In the Backroom

29

i.m. Ar Kong

30

Mise en scne: at the back of the mouth, a secret trial room, a roomset in black and white,

plywood over the windows and a single swinging light.The only sound is a muted thudding.In this

room, ordinary words are hanged

31

from golden nails and blooddrips down an anklebone under the cloak of justice And it continues

in this backroom: the quiet thudding; the wooden frame,already painted, is grinning, and the

tables and chairs, disgusted,still cant refuse their part in the ritual;

32

in this room where words are weighed,the scale of good and evil is always already tipped in this

airless room at the back of the mouth, vulgar words shiver from their forms;in this nowhere room,

even death cowers on a wooden pew.In this room, any words but silver words are hanged from

golden nails,and blood flows over ordinary anklebones, dripping under the cloak of justice.And this

is happening every day: a ritual in the mouth, a trial in black and white,where thought is a gavel

and ordinary words sentenced: left thudding in the throat.


26/29

translated from the Thai of Zakariya Amataya

28

The Thai constitution includes the clause: The King shall be enthroned in a position of revered

worship and shallnot be violated. No person shall expose the King to any sort of accusation or

action. Article 112 states: Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, the Heir-

apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonmentof three to fifteen years.

29

A full translation of these and other politically relevant poems are forthcoming from both

Modern Poetry inTranslation (UK), and Haydens Ferry Review

in August, 2013.

30

We have a simple message: these things are bad *the imprisonment and death of 61-year-old Ar

Kong whoallegedly violated

Lese Majeste

with four SMS messages] but how can we talk about the

reason

it happened? I usethis poem but I am opposite the giants of power in Thailand, so I say XXX

and *my reader+ knows it meansXXXConversation with the Amataya, February 2013.

31

From Wikipedia:

Lse majest

has often been used to silence discussion about [His Royal Majesty King]Bhumibol's role in politics,

particular after the 2006 coup. Dozens of radio stations have been shut down due toalleged

insults.

As of December 2010, nearly 60,000 websites have been banned for alleged insults against

[HisRoyal Majesty King] Bhumibol.Chiranuch Premchaiporn,webmaster of news website

Prachatai, has been jailed without bail for nearly a year for not removing an allegedly insulting

comment from an article fast enough. Althoughthe comments did not directly mention [His Royal

Majesty King] Bhumibol or members of his [royal] family, thecourt found that Chiranuch displayed
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chiranuch_Premchaiporn&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chiranuch_Premchaiporn&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prachataihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prachataihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prachataihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prachataihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chiranuch_Premchaiporn&action=edit&redlink=1


27/29

insulting intent. Arrested in September 2010, she could face up to 50 yearsimprisonment if found

guilty.

32

From Wikipedia: Cases are often filed by state authorities or by individuals, and anyone may take

action againstanyone else. In one notable incident during the20052006 political crisis,deposed

Prime MinisterThaksinShinawatraand his political opponentSondhi Limthongkulfiled charges of

lese-majesty against each other. Thaksin's alleged lese-majesty was one of the stated reasons for

the Thai military's2006 coup.Streeby | 1


Bangkok, Thailand

Reference List

Anon. "Thailand: Courts Denying Bail in

Lese Majeste

Cases."

Thailand: Courts Denying Bail in Lese Majeste Cases

. Human Rights Watch, 24 Feb. 2012. Web. Available at:Mar.

2013.Article 19. Thailand: 'Uncle SMS' dies after serving 3 months of his 20-year prison

sentence.10 May 2012. Web. Available at:Mar.

2013.Bassnett, Susan, and Harish Trivedi.

Post-colonial Translation: Theory and Practice

. London:Routledge, 1999. Print.Chandler, Daniel.

Semiotics for Beginners

. N.p.: n.p., n.d.

Semiotics for Beginners

. AberystwythUniversity, 2013. Web. Available at: Mar. 2013.Heidegger, Martin.

Poetry, Language, Thought

. Trans. Albert Hofstadter. New York: Harper &Row, 1971. Print.Heidegger, Martin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand_political_crisis_2005-2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand_political_crisis_2005-2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand_political_crisis_2005-2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand_political_crisis_2005-2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sondhi_Limthongkulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sondhi_Limthongkulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sondhi_Limthongkulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Thailand_couphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Thailand_couphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Thailand_couphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Thailand_couphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sondhi_Limthongkulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand_political_crisis_2005-2006


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Being and Time

. New York: HarperCollins, 2008. Print. Nelson, Eric S. "Individuation, Responsiveness, Translation:

Heidegger's Ethics."

Academia.edu

. N.p., 2011. Web. Available

at: Mar. 2013.Pound, Ezra.

Ezra Pound

. Comp. Thom Gunn. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 2005. Print.Prachatai. "THAILAND: Twenty

Years in Prison for Four SMS Messages."

Prachatai.com

. TheFoundation for Community Educational Media, 24 Nov. 2011. Web. Available at: Mar. 2013.Random House. "metonymy"

Dictionary.com Unabridged

. Random House, Inc. 07 Mar. 2013.Web. Available at: Mar. 2013Shadd, Deborah M. "Chasing

Ricoeur: In Pursuit of the Translational Paradigm."

New Voices inTranslation

. International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies, 24 May 2012.Web. Available

at:< http://www.iatis.org/images/stories/publications/new-voices/Issue8-2012/IPCITI/article-

shadd-2012.pdf > Mar. 2013.

Streeby


Bangkok, Thailand

Bjrn Ramberg&Kristin Gjesdal,2005.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

. HermeneuticsWeb. Available at: Accessed

February 26,2013.Venuti, Lawrence.

The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation

. London: Routledge,1995. Print.Wheeler, Michael, "Martin Heidegger",
http://folk.uio.no/bjoerntr/http://www.cla.temple.edu/philosophy/faculty/gjesdal.shtmlhttp://www.cla.temple.edu/philosophy/faculty/gjesdal.shtmlhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hermeneutics/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hermeneutics/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hermeneutics/http://www.cla.temple.edu/philosophy/faculty/gjesdal.shtmlhttp://folk.uio.no/bjoerntr/


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The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

(Spring 2013Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Web. Available at: Mar. 2013.

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