Struggling with words in a quest for a gender-free identity: Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts in Greek

Abstract

A journey of self-exploration while traversing a trajectory of identities lies at the core of Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts (2015). Through this experimental hybrid book, a fusion of autobiographical writing with theoretical intertextual fragments, or what Nelson herself calls autotheory, readers are invited to navigate a queer world in which real characters explore how to live through redefining gender. The Argonauts was translated in Greek by Maria Fakinou (2020). Given Nelson sheds light on the performative construction of gender, sex(uality), and identity pointing to the signifying and transformative powers of language, this article discusses linguistic configurations of gender in English and Greek, aiming at exploring strategies for applying gender-inclusive language. By adopting a humanizing and translator-centred approach (Pym 1998, 2009; Baker 2000; Kaindl et al. 2021), this paper positions Fakinou in the centre of translation focusing on her voice and views that have affected her choices while addressing the challenge of rendering gender-unmarked terms in Greek. Drawing on epitexts, mainly on an interview given by Fakinou, this study shows that translation and translators can question and resist dominant policies, practices and attitudes, promoting polyvocality and countering the silencing of marginalized voices, thus revealing their capacity for effecting social transformation.