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Introduction

Hello everyone. Bonswa tout moun, and bonsoir à tous et à toutes.

My name is Matt Robertshaw and I'm a first year PhD student in history here at York. I am permitted to take a course outside of history and I'm passionate about language and communication and I'm interested translation for its own sake, so I thought I might benefit from this course. I've studied French since Kindergarten and, more recently, have been learning Haitian Creole, or Kreyòl. I wrote my MA thesis on language politics in twentieth-century Haiti.

I've dabbled in translation. I took a few translation courses during my undergrad at Guelph. I published an English translation of a Haitian novel through a micro-press in Quebec, and more recently I co-translated The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe into Haitian Creole, along with a Haitian friend.

The name of my blog refers to a Haitian Creole proverb: "Wòch nan dlo pa konnen doulè wòch nan solèy." The rock in the water doesn't understand the pain of the rock in the sunlight. For me, as a historian and a translator, this is a reminder that one cannot easily understand someone else's perspective, particularly when working inter-culturally. But, as we all know, it is worth the effort.

I should also mention that I have a two-year-old boy, JJ (for whom I am constantly serving as interpreter), and we are expecting our second son toward the end of the semester. So if I drop off the face of the earth for a few days in November you'll know why. Looking forward to a great semester with you all!

Comments

  1. sehnaz tahir24 September 2017 at 21:14

    Thank you for the introduction Matt, it is great to have you in the class. Kreyol does not sound like anything that I know, so kudos on taking on this huge challenge.

    ReplyDelete

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Notes and Bibliography

Notes: 1 Edmund Wilson, Red, Black, Blond and Olive: Studies in Four Civilizations: Zuni, Haiti, Soviet Russia, Israel (New York: Oxford University Press, 1956), 110. 2 Paul Berry, “Literacy and the Question of Creole,” in The Haitian Potential: Research and Resources of Haiti , Vera Rubin and Richard P. Schaedel, eds. (New York: Teachers College Press, 1975), 85; Central Intelligence Agency, “Haiti,” The World Factbook. Accessed 30 November 2017. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html. 3 For a thorough analysis of the divided structure of Haitian society, see Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Haiti, State Against Nation: Origins and Legacy of Duvalierism , (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1990). 4 Matthew Robertshaw, “Pawòl Gen Zèl: Language Legitimation in Haiti’s Second  Century,” (master’s thesis, University of Guelph, 2016). 5 George Lang, “Translating from, to and within the Atlantic Creoles,” TTR 13 no. 2 (January 2000): 11. 6 Itamar Even-Zoha
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