"Deer Tracks" by Ramona Gutierrez
My process for translating Ramona Gutierrez’s award-winning poem “Deer Tracks” began with a discourse with the poet herself. In writing to her, she described to me the origins of her poem in Tohono O’odham traditions and language. Many lines in “Deer Tracks” switch fluidly from English to Spanish and Tohono O’odham, and she graciously helped me understand these meanings. She also explained to me the Tohono O’odham coming-of-age tradition, where boys would run to the ocean to collect salt and bring it back, as well as the Peace and Dignity Journeys that are still organized by first people communities today to continue the tradition despite their histories of repression under colonialism. Spanish and Tohono O’odham punch through the English in this text as an important manifestation of this idea of resistance. This idea is the guiding principle of my translation. I had some reservations about the power imbalance associated with translating a piece that resists colonialism into French, which for many is the language of the colonizer. Ramona Gutierrez helped me to think of this process from a more circumspect point of view. She said, “To be a runner, caring messages between communities is a strong medicine. You need physical endurance, part orator, and reliable memory…To be a translator is like being a runner. You are carrying the spirit of the message clearly.” I decided to keep the elements of Tohono O’odham culture evoked in this piece as central to my translation as possible. I view its multilingual nature and the way its meaning might be obscure to the non-native reader as an important device that should be preserved in translation. “Deer Tracks” is full of rich imagery and atmosphere, leading the reader into a cultural milieu without the assumption that it is foreign or obscure to them. This perceived ambiguity is vital to the way it creates meaning.
"The Politics of Metamorphosis" by Katie Farris
Katie Farris’s “The Politics of Metamorphosis” is an ancient fable that has played out a million times and will come to pass again. A nameless young woman grapples with the moment her body becomes a political object which she is herself in conflict with. Farris’ descriptions of her pregnancy and interactions with the village are part body horror, part Greek myth. The short piece’s prose blends a detached, literary style with the immediacy of the present tense and the physicality of the characters. I particularly enjoyed thinking about this piece with reference to Farris’s many literary and cultural references, which she uses as touchstones to further her themes about shared continuity and experiences across time and culture in female reproduction. Farris’s language about bodies and pregnancy posed an especially interesting challenge for me in translation. For example, she chooses different moments in the text to use the words “belly” and “womb,” which ostensibly refer to the same concept, but “womb” contains arguably a different set of cultural associations and connotations. My goal with my translation was to think about how Farris’s word choices evoke profound social and cultural meanings with bodies, womanhood, and pregnancy and how I could honor those intentions in my work. I was concerned about using the French utérus since the English “uterus” contains much more clinical and scientific connotations, but I ultimately decided to take advantage of its broadness in French. I contrasted this with ventre, similar to how Farris contrasts the physical and political significance of reproductive organs.
"I am Getting Comfortable with My Grief" by Ander Monson
Of all the pieces that I chose to translate for this project, Ander Monson’s “I am Getting Comfortable with My Grief” contains the most marked and rigid word choice. Monson’s piece relies heavily on rhyme, wordplay, and alliteration to evoke a cruel, almost sardonic tone. Many lines in this piece are distinctly impressionistic – their aural and poetic qualities take precedence over their more abstract literal meanings. Early on in the process, I made the decision to in many places prioritize the formal structures of rhyme and alliteration and disfavor the literal meaning of the text for a more general interpretation. This choice required that I remain grounded in a unifying interpretation of the piece as a whole, ensuring that any deviations from the source text serve that interpretation.
This project has afforded me the invaluable opportunity to consider more critically how language functions in poetry and prose both in French and English. Throughout the process, I found myself acting as an imperfect bridge between the two languages attempting to transmit common intuitions, feelings, and impulses. I also relished the chance to be exposed to more local writers and artists who I might otherwise have never known about. I would like to thank my second readers, Brandon Johnson and Anthony Sha, for all of your feedback and thoughtful consideration. I also would like to thank my internship supervisor, Jacqueline Balderrama, for her unflagging positivity and guidance throughout. Finally, thank you again to Ramona Gutierrez for lending me her time to speak with me about her poem. I hope these translations expand the potential readership of these remarkable pieces.
About the Translator
Grace Hawkins is an undergraduate student of English Linguistics, Film and Media Studies, and French. She is originally from Chandler, Arizona but has lived around the world. (updated 2024)
Translations
"Deer Tracks" by Ramona Gutierrez (French)
"I Am Getting Comfortable With My Grief" by Ander Monson (French)
"Politics of Metamorphosis" by Katie Farris (French)
With grateful acknowledgement to translation reviewers: Anthony Sha and Brandon Blue.