Romantic Literature and the Colonised World: Lessons from Indigenous Translations PDF
Preview Romantic Literature and the Colonised World: Lessons from Indigenous Translations
ROMANTIC LITERATURE AND THE COLONISED WORLD Lessons from Indigenous Translations Nikki Hessell PALGRAVE STUDIES IN THE ENLIGHTENMENT, ROMANTICISM AND CULTURES OF PRINT Series Editors: Anne K. Mellor and Clifford Siskin Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print Series Editors Anne K. Mellor Department of English University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA, USA Clifford Siskin Department of English New York University New York, NY, USA Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print features work that does not fit comfortably within established boundar- ies – whether between periods or between disciplines. Uniquely, it com- bines efforts to engage the power and materiality of print with explorations of gender, race, and class. By attending as well to intersections of literature with the visual arts, medicine, law, and science, the series enables a large- scale rethinking of the origins of modernity. Editorial Board: Isobel Armstrong, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK; John Bender, Stanford University, USA; Alan Bewell, University of Toronto, Canada; Peter de Bolla, University of Cambridge, UK; Robert Miles, University of Victoria, Canada; Claudia Johnson, Princeton University, USA; Saree Makdisi, UCLA, USA; Felicity A Nussbaum, UCLA, USA; Mary Poovey, New York University, USA; Janet Todd, University of Cambridge, UK. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14588 Nikki Hessell Romantic Literature and the Colonised World Lessons from Indigenous Translations Nikki Hessell Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print ISBN 978-3-319-70932-1 ISBN 978-3-319-70933-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70933-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018933040 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. Cover illustration: From Matthew McIntyre-Wilson’s series “The Price of Change”, with kind permission of the artist. Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For my children To be able to translate the words, is but a small part of the knowledge that is necessary. (Francis Jeffrey, review of The Reliques of Robert Burns, 1809) vii A cknowledgements This is not the sort of book that could be written alone. I am extremely grateful to all of the translators, linguists, and experts who worked with me on this project and provided such vital advice on matters of both lan- guage and culture, especially Tai Ahu, for his expertise in te reo Māori and tikanga Māori, Dona Davies for her assistance with the transcription of the Malayalam texts, Bryan Kuwada for his advice on Hawaiian terms and his hospitality when I was researching in Hawai‘i, and the linguists at the New Zealand Translation Centre in Wellington for their insights into the rele- vant texts. Librarians around the world provided much-needed assistance, but I would particularly like to thank the staff at the British Library, the Library of Congress, the Alexander Turnbull Library, the Hawaiian Historical Society, the Victoria University of Wellington Library, the Hamilton Library at the University of Hawai‘i, and the John Kinder Theological Library for their help. Ashlee Nelson has been a careful and creative research assistant. I was also fortunate to be involved in the American Antiquarian Society’s summer seminar on Indigenous Cultures of Print in 2013; Paul Erickson and the members of the seminar provided a wonderful environment in which to think through some of the issues that underpin this research. Victoria University of Wellington provided essential financial resources, as well as teaching relief, throughout the project, and my thanks go to the University Research Fund, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Committee, and the Research Committee of the School of English, Film, Theatre, and Media Studies for their support. My col- leagues in the English programme have provided wise advice as I moved ix x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS through different stages of this project, and I particularly want to thank Adam Grener for his suggestions. It is a pleasure to work in an institution that values research so highly. I would also like to thank colleagues involved in the Romantic Studies Association of Australasia, especially Thomas McLean and Liam McIlvanney, for encouraging this book as it evolved, and Sara Malton for her care and insight. Ben Doyle and Camille Davies at Palgrave have been a pleasure to work with, and I am extremely grateful for all the support they provided. A section from Chap. 2 appeared as “Romantic Literature and Indigenous Languages: Reading Felicia Hemans in Te Reo Māori” in the European Romantic Review 20, no. 2 (2009): 261–70, and an abbreviated version of Chap. 7 appeared in Romanticism 22, no. 2 (2016): 157–66. My major professional debts are, as always, to Ingrid Horrocks, F. Elizabeth Gray, and Sarah C. E. Ross, who have read most of this book in bite-sized chunks. Like most scholars, I am also permanently in debt to (and in awe of) my former supervisors: Heidi Thomson and H. J. Jackson have continued to support me long after I left their supervision, but in this instance I particularly want to thank Alan Bewell. It was in his graduate seminar on Romanticism and Colonial Natural History at the University of Toronto in 2001 that I first began to think about the ways in which Romantic literature and the colonial world might have interacted. Alan also provided enthusiastic encouragement for this project at times when it felt like it was an insurmountable task. I have had the good fortune to be part of two amazing collectives that support indigenous languages and lifeways: Te Whānau o Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngaio, and Te Whānau o Te Kura o Ōtari. Ngā mihi nui ki a kou- tou: this book is connected to everything I have learnt from all of you over the years. It is an honour to have a piece from Matthew McIntyre Wilson’s “The Price of Change” series on the cover of this book, which not only symbolises our connections through the kōhanga and the kura, but also perfectly captures ideas about the gains and losses of translation and con- tact that the book attempts to consider. Finally, I would like to thank my family, especially Carwyn, Kohurangi, Ruaariki, and Te Rauhina, who have taught me what it’s like to live in two different worlds, love two different literatures, and think in two different languages. Life, love, and language would be impossible without you all. c ontents 1 I ntroduction 1 2 Praying: Felicia Hemans at Third Sight 25 3 Singing: Global Indigeneity and Robert Burns 55 4 Naming: Aloha Ivanhoe 91 5 Mapping: Wordsworth and Poems on the Renaming of Places 123 6 Building: Relocating Wordsworth’s Architecture 159 7 Healing: Isabella, or The Pot of Tulāsi 195 8 Conclusion: Regenerating Romanticism 229 Bibliography 233 Index 259 xi
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