Does my translation have an accent? Exophonic Translation and the Experience of Language

In mid-July 2024, we met to talk about literary translation and directionality. We discussed questions which are integral to what we do, as we both are “exophonic translators” working from our “mother tongue” or “first language” into our “second language” or, more accurately, “main language,” English. Our conversation revolved around the nature of directionality in literary translation, in which the choice of the language in which one translates reflects both one’s personal experience of language(s) and a decision inherent in the act of creative writing. Choosing a language in which to write literature challenges the existing norms based on a binary distinction between one’s “first” and “second” language. In this essay, we report the essence of our conversation, recounting our experience in the third person, to indicate our respective contributions to this exchange.