Oldal 61 [61]
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 “corre¬
spondences.” 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 Adejun¬
mobi, “function as blank signals of cultural authenticity to be explicated in
peripheral glossaries, but rather as components that are integral to the con¬
struction of meaning at every point in the text.”
Using Cree and English in kiya4m, Naomi Mcllwraith contributes to the pres¬
ervation 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.
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