From Talel to Cultural Rights : The Challenge of Translating Transnational Discourse on Indigenous Rights in the Tseltal Area

Marie Chosson (1, 2)

1 CESSMA UMRD 245 - Centre d'études en sciences sociales sur les mondes africains, américains et asiatiques
2 Inalco - Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales

This paper explores the tensions and problems in the translation process of the terms “culture,” “tradition,” and “custom” in different versions of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples produced in Tseltal, a Maya language. Mirroring these translations with the meaning of all terms related to these concepts and used in the local’s everyday life allows assessing important semantic divergences between the source and target languages. These concepts became indispensable tools for intercultural dialogues in socio-political claims. A careful attention to their translation reveals the creation of intermediary semantic spaces using neologisms or attributions of new meaning to existing forms. It also underlines the desire of their authors to adapt universal discourse to local context, in a complex cross-cultural translation that meets external expectations and actors’ interests.

Mots clés: Tseltal; cross-cultural translation; culture; tradition; custom; Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie

Marie Chosson. From Talel to Cultural Rights : The Challenge of Translating Transnational Discourse on Indigenous Rights in the Tseltal Area. Anthropological Quarterly, 2022, 95 (3), pp.533-556. ⟨10.1353/anq.2022.0031⟩. ⟨hal-03969299⟩