Translation of the maternal subject from material objects: a theoretical inquiry into Your Little Matter

Through a case study on Maria Grazia Calandrone’s Your Little Matter, the current article illustrates the conceptual expansion within translation studies, which has long conceptualized translation primarily as the transfer of meaning between languages and texts. The examples presented show how material objects can be sources of translation that enable the reconstruction of the maternal subject. By analyzing Calandrone’s process of transforming physical remnants into narrative, this study challenges traditional notions of textual translation, arguing that translation encompasses non-linguistic, sensory, and material modes of meaning-making. The study pivots on the interplay between corporeal and textual realms, citing examples as translations of identity, trauma, and emotional legacy. The analysis in this article, ultimately, promotes translation studies as more than solely textual, indicating a need for shared multisensory and affective understandings of lived experiences to re-situate the importance of the material in transmitting modes of cultural and personal history.