earticle

영어

This study examines Timberlake Wertenbaker’s translation of history in New Anatomies, which revolved around the historical figure of Isabelle Everhardt, who traveled across Europe and North Africa in the early 20th century. Timberlake Wertenbaker focuses on how to change Isabelle’s materials into a new historical drama in order to show the editorial intention to historical reports, which leads to explore the link of colonization and gender in the work. Wertenbaker chooses the events and people from Everhardt’s original materials, and dramatizes them to reread her history from the perspective of post-colonialism. Wertenbaker runs in parallel gender binarism with French colonial Africa, because the main issue of the drama is the exploration of Isabelle’s identity. Though she was born as a white European woman, she identifies herself with an Arab man named Si Mahmoud. Her changed gender symbolizes the refusal against the forced identity of colonized Africa as well as making her own decision of gender identity. To show this feature, Wertenbaker uses the common dramaturgy in a drama history: cross-dressing. This staging strategy makes gender binarism disrupt and disband. This dramatic strategy also demonstrates not only the changeable fluidity of a person’s identity but the fluidity of the translation of history.