Self-translation as translation of the self - translating the hybrid self

In this essay, I discuss self-translation, particularly autobiographical self-translation, from various perspectives relating to identities, distance, imagination, creativity, and autonomy, while reflecting on the process I experienced self-translating my autobiography, originally written in Japanese, my native and first language (L1), into English, my second language (L2). The present study is unique in that the process of self-translation is examined by the self-translator herself. In the process of self-translation, the self-translator adopts a new language to tell his or her story to a new target audience, using a new set of lenses to view and project the world and the self. This process makes the self-translator discover, rediscover, affirm and/or reaffirm his or her identity - or identities. As this paper attempts to demonstrate, one's self-translation can thus be regarded as a reflection of his or her self or selves. That is, self-translation is "translating the self," or as in my case, translating the hybrid self.