The Power of the Untranslated. Sámi-Swedish Multilingualism in Ann-Hélen Laestadius’ “Stöld” and Elin Anna Labba’s “Far inte till havet”

This essay aims to present three main aspects of postcolonial literary multilingualism – i.e. its innovative stylistic implications, its political significance, and the pivotal role that translation plays in it – focusing on two novels by Sámi authors Elin Anna Labba (2024, Far inte till havet; The Home of the Drowned, translated by Elizabeth Clark Wessel, 2026) and Ann-Hélen Laestadius (Stöld, 2021; Stolen, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles, 2023). The novels are written in Swedish with a significant number of Sámi expressions, sometimes without translation. Exploring how the untranslated Sámi passages invite to a decolonial reading and commenting on some translation strategies for the two novels, I finally suggest a decolonial translational approach based on a theory of untranslatability and reinforcing the stylistic and political efficacy of the untranslated.