How many times can the same story be told? Marguerite Duras’s self-translation in her “India Cycle”

Zarja Vršič

doi:10.4312/stridon.5.1.93-113

Authors

Zarja Vršič University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Slovenia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/stridon.5.1.93-113

Keywords:

Marguerite Duras, self-translation, intersemiotic translation, intrasemiotic translation, India Cycle

Abstract

While existing scholarship on self-translation has primarily focused on interlingual transfers, this study aims to expand the concept to encompass intersemiotic and intrasemiotic translation by examining how the French novelist and filmmaker Marguerite Duras reworked the themes of loss, death, and memory across both literature and film. Focusing on her “India Cycle” – a series of interrelated novels and films – this study explores and analyses Duras’s distinctive approach to repetition while emphasizing her personal motivations for continuously reinterpreting the same narratives across different artistic forms. Ultimately, this paper argues that Duras’s self-translation is not merely a repetition of the same, but a creative process that generates new meanings in different contexts, reinforcing the cyclical and fragmented nature of her storytelling. Through this perspective, the India Cycle offers a compelling case for rethinking self-translation beyond linguistic boundaries, highlighting its broader implications for translation studies.

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