Violette Leduc in translation : between censure, recognition and emancipation
French writer Violette Leduc’s books, published between 1946 and 1973, are some of the earliest examples of autobiographical feminist writing addressing issues such as mental health, unideal motherhood and sexuality from a female perspective. Due to the controversial nature of her work, she was repeatedly censored throughout the publication process in France – from the initial manuscript production in the form of self-censorship, through her relationship with Simone de Beauvoir, by the editors at Gallimard and, ultimately, by the press. After finding critical success despite the resistance to her work, her books were translated into many languages, including English. Although Leduc’s censorship has been documented and discussed from a range of perspectives, the translation of her writing and its circulation outside of France is barely mentioned. This study therefore addresses the question of how translation, specifically the English translation, as another gatekeeper in Leduc’s publication process, responds to the previous censorship of her writing – does it magnify or attenuate repression, does it help emancipate or repress minority representations? To explore these questions, we present the case of Leduc’s most controversial 200 pages of writing – a passage removed from its original place at the beginning of another book to become the standalone Thérèse et Isabelle. This text, which recounts the brief romantic relationship between two female boarding school students, was overtly censored in French. It was translated into English in 1967 and, unlike Leduc’s other books, was rereleased in its unexpurgated form in 2000 and was retranslated in 2012. For the purposes of this analysis, these two translations are considered within the wider production process, from initial writing to ongoing critical reception. In so doing, translational theories of censorship and queer and feminist studies provide a critical lens through which to understand contextual and historical significance, while translation-specific discussions of complexity theory are applied as an analytical framework through which to populate a nuanced understanding of inter-related sources of influence and emergence. From this complex perspective, patterns are identified that highlight the role of translation as an agent of censorship and/or emancipation, significantly influencing the contemporary understanding of Leduc’s legacy.
Translation Violette Leduc Censorship Queer studies Feminism Literary translation Complexity theory