Abstract

The three dialogues explore the possibilities of convergence in a bilingual work, namely in dialectical concepts such as “author” and “other”, “original” and “translation” – notions that the characters are also bound to question. Written in both English and Chiac, an Acadian French spoken in the south-east region of New-Brunswick that fuses Old French and contemporary English, the dialogues can be read as a continuation of the writing process where the bilingual text uses two language systems to complete its meaning, or as two separate linguistic versions that can be read as two autonomous and original creations. As the author-translator, I have allowed slippages to occur in-between the translations, which have the effect of creating a literal as well as a literary reference to the asymmetrical contact zone between English and French. As linguist Marie-Ève Perrot explains, “perceived by its speakers as a variety of the French language and a constituent of a French identity, Chiac offers a dual position in so far as it allows resistance to English (the dominant language) as well as to standard French (the dominant variety)” (My translation, 150). The Acadian author writing in Chiac is faced with two crucial challenges: the first is the problem of legitimizing the marginalized dialect as a language worthy of “literariness”; the second is the issue of reception; given Chiac’s limited use outside of Moncton it faces the problem of audience, which is why I’ve included a recording of two of the dialogues.