Minor Literatures, Major Voices

Minor Literatures, Major Voices Translation, Power, and the Ethics of Carrying Voice Minor Literatures, Major Voices is a short program in the Between the Lines channel that examines translation not as technique, but as responsibility. We often speak about translation as if it were neutral—as if words move cleanly between languages, and all voices arrive with equal footing. This program begins by dismantling that assumption. Not all voices cross languages under the same conditions. Not all voices are received with the same generosity. And not all clarity is kind. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of “minor literature”—reframed through lived translation practice rather than theory—this program explores what it means to carry voices that speak under pressure. Here, “minor” does not mean small or marginal by identity. It means compressed by power. Across five core sessions and a closing reflection, we move through: - how power shapes what languages know how to hear - how fluency and elegance can quietly erase urgency and constraint - how translation can slide from care into ventriloquism - how breaks, awkwardness, and instability often carry meaning - how ethical translation requires restraint rather than mastery Rather than offering techniques or checklists, the program trains translator consciousness—the ability to recognize when improvement becomes distortion, and when clarity begins to serve comfort rather than voice. This is a slow program. It asks for patience, listening, and a willingness to sit with discomfort. It is designed for translators, writers, editors, scholars, and cultural workers who sense that something is at stake in language but have not yet found words for it. Minor Literatures, Major Voices does not promise confidence. It offers posture. It returns translation to dignity—not the dignity of brilliance or control, but the dignity of care.