Abstract

Translation has long been regarded as a bridge between cultures and languages, but in colonial and postcolonial contexts it has also acted as a tool of epistemic violence—imposing European epistemologies and erasing indigenous voices. This paper examines translation’s ethical dimensions, demonstrating how it mediates between fidelity, accessibility, and justice. Drawing on theorists such as Benjamin, Venuti, Spivak, Bhabha, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and Said, the study argues that translation must be reconceived as an ethically charged practice that both reveals and resists power structures. Postcolonial approaches that embrace untranslatability, code-switching, and linguistic hybridity reclaim epistemic agency, preserve cultural specificity, and advance epistemic justice.

Keywords

Untranslatability, Epistemic Violence, Postcolonial Translation, Colonial Language Policy, Ethics of Translation, Cultural Memory, Linguistic Resistance, Cross-Cultural Representation.

Conclusion

The study concludes that translation in colonial and postcolonial discourse functions simultaneously as an instrument of domination and a means of ethical resistance. Colonial translation practices reinforced linguistic hierarchies and silenced indigenous epistemologies, while postcolonial writers reclaim translation as a site of decolonial agency. By foregrounding the untranslatable and maintaining linguistic plurality, translation becomes a space for epistemic justice, ethical responsibility, and the preservation of cultural memory across languages.

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