Translating Nouzha Fassi Fihri's La Baroudeuse: A Case Study in ...

participated intellectually in political discussions and decisions. The author
downplays the distinction that my audience might make between written and
spoken language, variations in register that might endorse a distinction between
those who read and write and those who do not. To be faithful to the effect of the
original, I decided to maintain a high register of language in the dialogue without
excessively defamiliarizing the reader.
Comments concerning the use of metaphors indicated that the readers
expected clear and effective imagery. One reader highlighted the phrase
“equestrian tornado” in the sentence: “They had to preserve this Islam that had
been brought to Africa in an equestrian tornado” ("Cet islam amené en Afrique
dans une tornade hippique, il fallait le préserver" [157]). This phrase could be
translated in a less elevated register as, for example "this Islam brought to Africa
on horseback," but as such would lose the formal tone and the tornado metaphor
of the original. Though the high literary register of the phrase I have chosen might
cause the reader to pause, it maintains the respectful tone of the original. Another
reader questioned the choice of the word “bag” in the passage: “she glanced one
last time at her reflection and said in a loud voice, as though to ward off the evil
eye, 'You old bag'" ("elle jeta un dernier regard à son miroir et lança tout haut,
comme pour conjurer le sort: 'Espèce de vieille carcasse'" [12]). This colloquial
and highly emotive use of a perhaps dated slang word is likely to defamiliarize
many readers. I chose this word to convey the strong imagery and dissonance of
the original phrase that projects a character who has let passion rule her life but is
also capable of gazing at herself from a distanced, critical, cynical perspective.
One reader highlighted the word "hovel" in the phrase: "Your mouth is a ruined
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