Migrations of meaning: Women, translation, visibility, invisibility

All speech, indeed, all thought, is a translation of the impressions and sensations we seek to transmit. Intralingual translation is generally unconscious; interlingual translation is a conscious act, marked by vulnerability. Translation is always imperfect, as there are no perfect equivalencies, but its depiction as traitorous is based in semi-religious interpretation. In fiction it often reflects political and sexual barriers to be crossed. In practice, it engages power, between majority and lesser-known languages, and it gives access to power. Finally, it is a gendered act, in which the translator, required to be invisible, brings the unseen to the surface.