LE MOT SABLIER BY DUMITRU TSEPENEAG OR A NOVEL
BASED ON A BILINGUAL WRITING EXPERIENCE Cover Image

LE MOT SABLIER DE DUMITRU TSEPENEAG OU LA MISE EN ROMAN D’UNE EXPÉRIENCE SCRIPTURAIRE BILINGUE
LE MOT SABLIER BY DUMITRU TSEPENEAG OR A NOVEL BASED ON A BILINGUAL WRITING EXPERIENCE

Author(s): Ileana Neli Eiben
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Editura Universitaria Craiova
Keywords: bilingual writing; code-switch; native language; foreign language; mentally translating; bilingual text.

Summary/Abstract: This study concentrates on the novel Le Mot sablier and aims at identifying the special method employed by Dumitru Tsepeneag to illustrate his accustomedness to using French as a writing language. In his case, the focus is not on talking about his bilingualism, but on seizing it "within his writing" (Bârna 2005: 29). The analysed bilingual text shows how the native language, in this case Romanian, is gradually replacd by French. By means of a code-switch carefully guided by the author, the words flow from the superior “recipient” to the inferior one causing the text to transform itself from Romanian into French. Although at first he seemed to need a translator, Alain [Paruit], to translate his work into French, the author ends up being his own translator. By naturalising the foreign language, he is able to mentally translate his thoughts and give them a literary shape according to the standards of his new writing language.

  • Issue Year: XVIII/2014
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 13-23
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: French
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