Antoine Berman’s concept of “the trial of the foreign” has proven particularly useful inelucidating and accounting for postcolonial translation practice. African European-language writing is characterized by the practice of... more
Antoine Berman’s concept of “the trial of the foreign” has proven particularly useful inelucidating and accounting for postcolonial translation practice. African European-language writing is characterized by the practice of vernacularization and literary diglossia as a writing strategy in what is generally an intercultural communication context. This raises questions of identity and ideology with respect to the use of colonial languages, as well as issues of power relations between the center and the periphery. The strategy of deterritorializing and reterritorializing often used by postcolonial writers as an attempt to reappropriate the colonial language and thus claim their own space is an example of what Berman refers to as “writing as translation”. This style of writing, heavily grounded in ideological as well as sociocultural considerations, raises some serious questions about translation choices which can only be addressed through a sound and comprehensive ethics of translation...
Cet article a pour but de dresser l’esquisse d’une histoire de la traduction en Afrique subsaharienne qui couvre les périodes-clé de son histoire ainsi que les principales régions du continent. De l’époque précoloniale à l’époque... more
Cet article a pour but de dresser l’esquisse d’une histoire de la traduction en Afrique subsaharienne qui couvre les périodes-clé de son histoire ainsi que les principales régions du continent. De l’époque précoloniale à l’époque néocoloniale actuelle, la traduction et l’interprétation ont toujours aidé à faciliter la communication entre divers groupes, que ce soit pour faire le lien entre les souverains et leurs sujets, entre les colonisateurs et les colonisés ou encore, aujourd’hui, entre les communautés linguistiques d’une Afrique hautement multilingue et multiculturelle. La traduction a touché tous les secteurs d’activité en Afrique au cours des siècles, tant sur le plan politique qu’administratif, culturel et religieux. Dans ce contexte, la traduction s’est faite entre diverses combinaisons de langues : arabe, langues africaines et langues européennes. On peut compter aussi des formes traditionnelles de traduction intersémiotique. Tracer une histoire de la traduction en Afrique...
Translation as Culture Transfer: Evidence from African Creative Writing — Due to the impact of African oral tradition the language of African creative writing in European languages (French and English) poses specific translation problems.... more
Translation as Culture Transfer: Evidence from African Creative Writing — Due to the impact of African oral tradition the language of African creative writing in European languages (French and English) poses specific translation problems. We wish to illustrate the various processes and techniques used to cope with these translation problems. The different translation techniques discussed will throw some light on well-known concepts in translation theory such as Newmark's semantic vs communicative translation, House's overt vs covert translation, Diller and Kornelius' primary vs secondary translation and Berman's "traduction ethnocentrique" vs "traduction hypertextuelle." Translation as culture transfer, particularly regarding non-related language cultures, has been discussed by translation theorists such as Mounin, Nida, Lefevere, and Snell-Hornby. Translating African creative works is a double "transposition" process: (1) primary level ...
On Translating Pidgins and Creoles in African Literature — This paper deals with some of the problems of translating pidgins and creoles in African literature. It begins with an overview of the origins and parallel evolution of the... more
On Translating Pidgins and Creoles in African Literature — This paper deals with some of the problems of translating pidgins and creoles in African literature. It begins with an overview of the origins and parallel evolution of the French-based and English-based pidgins spoken in West Africa, throwing light on their status, history, and use in African literature. After a brief sociolinguistic analysis of the two hybrid languages, the paper discusses the difficulty of translating them, by carrying out a thorough analysis of translated examples and suggesting more appropriate solutions where necessary. The paper concludes by highlighting the reasons for the translation difficulties which are not only linguistic but also historical and ideological.
