A conversation about narrative and translation

“Engaging with the theory”: how nice to read and hear these words again, Sue-Ann. Like a Proust effect, these four words triggered so many memories of supervision meetings with Mona. “Engaging with the theory” had an indelible imprint on my doctoral experience and still very much influences my theoretical mindset. It is clear that theory (and typology) is not ‘sitting out there’,as a one-fit-for-all toolkit to be applied or forced onto one’s data. As we confronted the theory with the data to address our research questions, we navigated, stumbled, found possible pathways and breakthroughs. In so doing, we made the typology our own, opening up new avenues of research for narrative enquiry. ‘Engaging with the theory’, thus, has proven to be an effective shield against uncritical and unproductive classification of narratives; a risk Theo is so right to remind us of in this special issue on narrative and translation. I tend to think that Mona’s injunction to engage with the theory had to do with a similar concern, as she was supervising no less than 5 narrative-minded PhD students at the time, including us two, immediately following the publication of Translation and Conflict: a narrative account.We even cheerly self-referred as the Narrative School, remember?