Beyond Interlingual Translation: Transforming History, Corporeality, and Spatiality in Femi Osofisan’s Women of Owu

Abstract

Abstract Building mostly on the seminal works of André Lefevere and Bassnett, recent work carried out in translation studies has problematized extant conceptions of translation and the distinction between various forms of creative rewritings. Similarly, individual scholars such as Katja Krebs and Laurence Raw in the field of adaptation studies have illuminated points of convergence and overlap between translation and adaptation. This article espouses and extends existing studies by explicating the redundancy of the borders constructed between translation and adaptation within the broader framework of Nigerian theatre and performance. Informed by a transdisciplinary approach adapted from multimodal social semiotics and literary studies, the author engages in analysis and close-readings of the play text and stage performance of Femi Osofisan’s Women of Owu (2004/2006) to investigate how translation transcends simple interlingual practice to encompass adaptations of the spatial, temporal and embodied aspects of societies and cultures.