Recent developments in translation studies since the 1990s have focused on the ideological implications of translation, seeing the role of the translator as an interventionist and a mediator. This new paradigm overcomes the idea that translation is a mimetic task that consists merely of transferring meaning from one language to another, but rather it is associated with political processes which may involve domination, oppression, submission or resistance amongst social groups and communities. Recognition is given to the capacity of translation to forge social and cultural change. Postcolonial contexts have proven to be particularly fertile for the study of ideological issues related to translation insofar as they reflect a situation of inequality between language communities. In these contexts, translation can be used as a political artefact either to perpetuate colonial domination or to fight against it. As a result, the 1990s have seen the emergence of postcolonial translation theories. These new theories are not only applicable to contexts that are most commonly identified as postcolonial, but to any type of situation where there exists inequality between the two systems in which translation takes place (e.g., in subaltern cultures where the practice of translation can become a means of resistance against a situation of cultural domination and a channel of self-definition). In this regard, the situation of Galicia in the 1920s and 1930s is paradigmatic and it offers invaluable grounds for the study of translation when used as an ideological instrument in the struggle for the search and construction of a national identity. During this period a group of intellectuals, widely known as Xeración Nós, emerged in the region concerned with the articulation of a nationalist discourse based on the cultural and political differentiation of Galicia with regard to the rest of Spain. Their nation-building project was a response to a situation of cultural oppression, long imposed by the Spanish state represented by Castile, and it was based on the concepts of Celticism and Atlanticism. Resorting back to the alleged Galician ancestors, the Celts, they strove to establish affinities with the other so-called Celtic nations of Northern Europe, particularly Ireland, in order to include Galicia within the Celtic mythological tradition and, by extension, within a new Atlantic civilisation opposed to the Mediterranean one which they associated with Spain. Within this well planned ideological agenda, translation of Irish literary texts played an essential role as it was used as a political tool to establish the abovementioned affinity with Ireland. From the selection of the texts to be translated to the actual discourse strategies used by the translators, translation became a process of appropriation and manipulation to support ideological ends. Focusing on the translations of the Irish poet and playwright W.B. Yeats, the most translated Irish writer of the period and profoundly admired by the Galician intelligentsia, this thesis intends to explore how translation was used in a subversive and manipulative way to show Galicia’s distinctiveness and to build a national identity resisting cultural domination. Therefore, I will demonstrate the capacity of translation to shape cultures and to aid and support cultural and social change.

Le désert du Néguev est communément considéré comme une zone « périphérique » de nature sauvage en Israël. Il occupe cependant une position stratégique, essentielle à l’existence du « Centre ». Cette région est dotée d’une forte valeur symbolique, positive et négative à la fois. Perçu comme un espace spirituel dans lequel s’est constitué le peuple, il est aussi assimilé à l’exil en tant que lieu de désolation menaçant sa survie. Depuis les années 1920, la tendance était à sa conquête et à sa fertilisation. En revanche, depuis les années 1980, on insiste davantage sur son développement dans le respect des valeurs écologiques et dans le souci de préserver sa nature sauvage.La recherche est située dans le domaine de l’observation écocritique, qui examine les relations entre l’homme et son environnement à l’ère postcoloniale. C’est dans ce cadre qu’a été étudié l’impact d’une série d’oppositions hiérarchisées telles que culture vs nature, développement vs préservation, centre vs périphérie.Les représentations du désert dans le discours public ont été examinées à la lumière de ces oppositions, depuis les années 1940 à ce jour, par l’analyse de divers supports : les médias (presse, télévision et internet), les programmes de développement fixés par l’Etat et la littérature hébraïque. La recherche ainsi menée vise à montrer comment la dévalorisation du collectivisme dans la société israélienne, sur fond de mondialisation, a renforcé le potentiel d’influence des groupes sociaux sur la construction de l’identité spatiale du Néguev. / The Negev desert occupies most of the territory of the State of Israel, having a strategic importance for the existence of the "center" and at the same time it is considered as a natural wild “periphery”. This region has a symbolic value with different charges, positive and negative. It is considered as a spiritual space where the Hebrew people were constituted, but it is also associated with the exile which threatens the continuation of the nation existence. Since the 1920s, there was a tendency to "conquer" the desert and "flourish" it. Nevertheless, since the 1980s, the tendency is to develop it according to ecological values, while preserving its natural character. The research is situated in the field of ecocriticism, which examines the relationship between man and his environment in the postcolonial era. It is in this framework that the impact of hierarchical oppositions, including culture versus nature, development versus conservation and center versus periphery, are being studied. The representations of the desert in the public discourse are examined in the light of these oppositions, since the 1940s to the present, through texts analysis of: the media (press, television and internet); development programs established by the State; and Hebrew literature. The study shows how as a result of the decline in the status of collectivism in Israeli society, as part of globalization processes, increases the ability of social groups to influence the construction of spatial identity of the Negev desert.