Sensing translation through the body: the case of Caroline Bergvall

Abstract

[EN] The starting point of this article is that we translate not only with our intellect but also with our body, emotions, and senses. Furthermore, translating in this way—intersensorially, by engaging all the senses—is a political act. After numerous developments in translation studies, this article argues that translation is no longer simply the replacement of one word with another. Translators who work through the sensorium ensure that their translations convey not only sound but also the emotions, sensations, and memories experienced through the whole body. Here, translation is understood as the convergence of two bodies, which are not merely portions of space but also settings for contingency: mobile, plural, and unpredictable environments. We translate with the body because the content originates from the body, and because knowledge is created through the union of reason and feeling. Using Caroline Bergvall’s performance writings and incorporating the concept of “atmosphere,” the article illustrates how she approaches multilingualism through physical, multisensory performances. Bergvall produces atmospheric, intersensory translations that generate a corporeal ontology, enabling one body to merge with and work closely alongside another, immersed in a fully intersensory journey.