ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the Aboriginal-related references contained in the anthology My People (1970), published by the First Nations writer, educator and political activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920–1994), comparing them with my Italian translation. The theoretical framework is drawn from recent interdisciplinary debates about translation theory and practice (Torop 1995; Venuti 2007, 2011; Bassnett 2015; Petrilli 2015, 2017; Hubscher-Davidson 2020).
Oodgeroo (Kath Walker) wrote in English, the language of the colonizers. However, her poems in My People include references to Aboriginal languages and Indigenous culture and society. Denouncing discrimination against the Aboriginal people, Oodgeroo depicts Indigenous history, lifestyle, traditions and spirituality evoked vividly, though largely destroyed or dramatically changing and disappearing. Oodgeroo’s “poetemic” verses, as Mudrooroo Narogin defined them, are an act of socio-political accusation, where the combination of English language and Aboriginal linguistic and cultural references plays a key role.
While the focus of this chapter is on Oodgeroo’s lexicon, it highlights the emotional charge of Aboriginal words and expressions beyond mere linguistic aspects and considers the larger cultural sphere. A further aim is to discuss the principal translative strategies adopted in the specific cases analysed, and reflect on translation practice as a way of mediating and transmitting both cultural heritage and the emotional dimension.
