Translation and poetry: two unknown aspects in the life of raizal linguist Oakley Forbes

Abstract

In this paper, we study for the first time the unpublished multilingual poetry written by Sanandrean linguist Oakley Forbes. We also explore his role in the translation of Juan Ramírez Dawkins’ poems. In these two unknown aspects of Forbes’ life, we trace the relationship between writing and translation in his double role as translator and self-translator. This study shows that writing and translating are two spheres present both in his role as a translator of Ramírez Dawkins’ works and as a translator of his own works. When he collaborated with Ramírez Dawkins in the translation of the latter’s works, he had the freedom to rewrite and to adapt the text in order to re-spatialize it to the writer’s other audience. The same happened with the translation of his own poetic work, which, being written in several languages, reflects the richness and paradoxes of the encounters of diverse cultures.