Oldal 61 [61]
OCR
POEMS-AS-LANGUAGE-LESSONS: TRANSLINGUALISM IN NAOMI MCILWRAITH’S kiyam title, particularly through “sounds,” is reflected once again the importance of oral traditions and of listening in learning néhiyawéwin. In addition, audio readings by Mcllwraith herself are openly available on the publisher’s website. The audio recordings allow the reader to listen to the book, while the paperback and e—book editions allow the reader to read it. And there is a third option, to combine the two for a language lesson on pronunciation. In that respect the audio version works together with the pronunciation guide to preserve and revitalize néhiyawéwin—and connects back to the necessity of being a fluent listener to become a fluent speaker. The glossary interestingly is titled “cree-english correspondences.” The absence of capital letters for the languages here follows Cree orthography and thus decenters English as the “dominant” language. Moreover, it puts both languages on equal footing, which is also exemplified by the idea of “correspondences.” The words here appear not as mere translation but rather as agreement or communication between the two languages, moving from one to another and back, creating meaning in the space between. The glossary contains “translations” for each Cree word, phrase, or verse from the poems thus making it a useful tool for the reader to better understand the poetry and to learn some Cree in the process. It should, however, be noted that almost all Cree expressions are accompanied by their English counterparts in the poems themselves—whether through Cree first then English, English first then Cree, or a smooth mix of going back and forth between them. In that sense we can argue that the Cree words, phrases, verses do not, to borrow from Adejunmobi, “function as blank signals of cultural authenticity to be explicated in peripheral glossaries, but rather as components that are integral to the construction of meaning at every point in the text.” Using Cree and English in kiya4m, Naomi Mcllwraith contributes to the preservation and revitalization of néhiyawéwin, reflects on the relation between the two languages and the worldviews embedded within, and exemplifies the concept and phenomenon of poems-as-language-lessons. The latter not only becomes clear through the reflection on language learning she presents, in which learning Cree entails becoming a fluent listener first, but also through the strong emphasis on providing the reader with tools in the collection of poetry itself to learn the language, which becomes particularly evident in her embrace of paratextual materials. The continuous moving between languages demands a strong effort by non-Cree speaking and imperfect speaking readers to follow along with Mcllwraith’s poetic reflections on language, while those fluent in néhiyawéwin and English may be able to more fully appreciate and experience her work. In this way Mcllwraith speaks to a broad audience 23, Moradewun Adejunmobi: Translation and Postcolonial Identity, The Translator 4 (1998), 174. « 59 «
