scholarly journals Hibridization, Linguistic and Stylistic Innovation in Cameroonian Literature and Implications for Translation

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. p165
Author(s):  
Suh Joseph Che

Drawing from Cameroonian drama written in French and translated into English, this paper demonstrates how Cameroonian literature written in European languages and translated into other European languages is characterized by linguistic and stylistic innovation. It examines the reasons and motivations underlying this phenomenon, first from the perspective of the ambivalent situation of the Cameroonian and African writer writing not in his native language but rather in a European language, and secondly in the light of the prevailing literary creative trend and attitude of Cameroonian and, indeed, African writers in general. In this context, it is argued and posited that Cameroonian literary works are heavily tinted with linguistic and stylistic innovations such that the source texts actually intervene and exert considerable influence on the mode of their translation into the target language, particularly if the translator is to preserve the Cameroonian/African aesthetic which informs them and constitutes their driving force.

1968 ◽  
Vol 11 (02) ◽  
pp. 129-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernth Lindfors

Janheinz Jahn's Bibliography is the most useful reference work that bibliographers of African literature have yet produced. One may wish to quarrel with Jahn about his definition of “neo-African literature” or about some of the material he has chosen to include (e.g., unpublished manuscripts, sermons, travel books, political works, monographs) as well as some he has chosen to exclude (e.g., literary works by white African writers, collections of folklore), but one must applaud his thorough documentation and multilingual approach. No other bibliography of African literature has been so comprehensive and so accurate. However, Jahn himself is aware that “there is no bibliography without gaps,” and he has invited others to help him “fill in these gaps and correct errors” (Jann, p. ix). It is hoped that the following list of additions and corrections will prove useful not only to Jahn but also to librarians, literary scholars, and other bibliographers. It is not to be taken as a complete list, for I have had neither the time nor the resources to check all of Jahn's entries or to search in more than a few libraries for missing titles. Of necessity my emphasis has been placed on materials written in European languages. I would encourage those who are aware of further errors and omissions to publish similar lists so that a more definitive bibliography of African literature can be prepared.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Bandia

Abstract 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 of translation i.e., the expression of African thought in a European language by an African writer; (2) the "transfer" of African thought from one European language to another by the translator. The primary level of translation results in an African variety of European languages, and the translator's task is to deal with the unique problems posed by this so-called non-standard language. This paper is focussed on the various translation techniques used by translators of African works. These translators show a clear preference for semantic, overt and "literal" translation, in which, in Nida's terms, formal equivalence is given priority over dynamic equivalence. Such an approach is judged by the translators to be the most reliable for an effective representation of African sociocultural and sociolinguistic reality in European languages.


2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Ober

Although the noted nineteenth-century Danish-Jewish writer Meïr Goldschmidt (1819–1887) made his entry into literature with a novel on Jewish themes, his later novels treated non-Jewish subjects, and his Jewish heritage appeared progressively to recede into the background of his public image. Literary historians have paid little attention to his complex perception of his own Jewishness and have made no effort to discover the immense significance he himself felt that Judaism had for his life and for his literary works. Moreover, no previous study has comprehensively treated Goldschmidt’s far-reaching network of interrelationships with an astonishing number of other major Jewish cultural figures of nineteenth-century Europe. During his restless travels crisscrossing Europe, which were facilitated by his phenomenal knowledge of the major European languages, he habitually sought out and associated with the leading Jewish figures in literature, the arts, journalism, and religion, but this fact and the resulting mutually influential connections he formed have been overlooked and ignored. This is the first focused and documented study of the Jewish aspect of Goldschmidt’s life, so vitally important to Goldschmidt himself and so indispensable to a complete understanding of his place in Danish and in world literatures.


Author(s):  
Haun Saussy

We often hear that certain words or texts are “untranslatable.” At the root of this judgment lies an exaggerated respect for the native language, which must not be altered by contact with other languages. Against this superstition, it is here argued that translation is one of the great movers of change in language, and accomplishes this precisely through the rendering of difficult and unidiomatic texts. At another level, a purported ethics of translation urges that translations should be “foreignizing” rather than domesticating: this too evidences a normative idea of the integrity of the language and culture of the foreign text. Against such defences of purity, a sense of both language and translation as inherently hybrid, and literary language in particular as macaronic, should open to examination the historical individuality of encounters that every translation records. Examples from Western European languages indicate how this hybridity is to be understood.


2021 ◽  
pp. 96-102
Author(s):  
Gergana GEORGIEVA

The article discusses some major challenges in editing articles and abstracts with a political focus in English in Bulgarian scientific periodicals. It happens that many of the terms in articles and abstracts that deal with issues affecting legislation in the European Union (EU) are not standardized or codified, as some phenomena have not existed in the language so far. The specific "Eurojargon" used by policymakers easily finds a place in articles and abstracts on the European Union. Sometimes, due to lack of time, journalists use phrases that are adopted by the Brussels administration without thinking about clarifying them to listeners and readers, and perhaps without fully understanding them themselves. Many institutions are aware that such a "European" language is widening the gap between the institutions in Brussels and the citizens of Europe. Due to the complex language of the EU, more and more often the editor, as well as the citizen, finds themselves in a situation where they are clearly aware that communication is impossible. Addressing these challenges could be supported not only through official documents translated into our native language but also through conferences, round tables, discussions on the topic and various government initiatives to fund projects with the inevitable assistance of professionals and linguists in the field of mass communications.


2021 ◽  
pp. 4-9
Author(s):  
Е.Л. Бархударова

В основе разработки курсов практической фонетики, адресованных иноязычной аудитории, лежит анализ типологического своеобразия фонетической системы изучаемого языка в контексте лингводидактики. К числу важных направлений типологического исследования звукового строя русского языка следует отнести, во-первых, изучение соотношения консонантизма и вокализма в его фонетической системе на иноязычном фоне, во-вторых, – анализ позиционных закономерностей русской фонетической системы в сопоставлении с функционированием звуковых единиц в типологически разных языках. В позиционных закономерностях звукового строя языка наиболее ярко проявляется его идиоматичность: в каждом языке позиционные закономерности носят специфический характер и определяются соотношением парадигматики и синтагматики звуковых единиц. Большое число фонологически значимых отклонений в иностранном акценте обусловлено интерферирующим воздействием позиционных закономерностей родного языка на русскую речь учащихся. The development of practical phonetics courses addressed to a foreign audience is based on the analysis of the typological features of the phonetic system of the target language in the context of linguodidactics. It is necessary to designate two important areas of typological research of the sound structure of the Russian language: the study of the relationship of consonantism and vocalism in its phonetic system against a foreign language background and the analysis of positional rules of the Russian phonetic system in comparison with the functioning of sound units in typologically different languages. Idiomatic character of the language is most clearly manifested in the positional patterns of its sound structure. In each language, positional patterns are specific and are determined by the dominance of paradigmatic or syntagmatic relations of sound units. A large number of phonologically significant deviations in a foreign accent are due to the interfering influence of the positional laws of the native language on the Russian speech of students.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Olatunde Yaqub

The teaching and learning of Arabic language especially in the non-native environment require a simplified method to make the job a more fruitful enterprise. This paper explores the application of a contrastive analysis of both the target language and the native language in encouraging, motivating and simplifying the teaching and learning of oral Arabic communication skill among the native Yoruba speakers. The work identifies the major areas of difficulties facing the students from this region. This includes phonetics, phonology and agreement relation (otherwise known as concord in grammar). The agreement consists of gender, person, terms and numbers which form a major component of grammatical Arabic sentence. It is observed that understanding these major areas will enhance the performance of the students in achieving the required standard in Arabic oral communication. The paper concludes that Arabic phonetics, phonology and grammar are more elaborate than those of Yoruba. Hence, the instructors need to focus more attention on these difficult areas; especially those areas that do not exist in the native language (Yoruba).


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 88-94
Author(s):  
AlZu’bi Khaled

The figurative language employed by authors, which reflects their styles of writing, is one main reason behind the challenges that most literary translators encounter when dealing with literary works. Usually employed for aesthetic and poetic purposes, figures of speech imply connotative meanings. In literary works, words are used only assigns to settle down the flying spirits of meanings and ideas so that the audience can have a thread that could lead them to intended meanings. I believe that literary translators should face the challenges of translating literary works through two main approaches. First, transferring the work of art as it is without trying to find any equivalent in the target language for any piece of text in the source language. The aim of such type of translation would be familiarizing the audience in the target language with the literature and culture of the source language. Second, translating the SL work of art creatively, i.e. using all possible strategies and procedures to find natural equivalents in the TL for any stylistic features in the SLT. This type of translation should aim at pleasing and entertaining the TL audience.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Anak Agung Inten Mayuni

Puja Tri Sandhya is Hindus prayer known in all countries. The original prayer came in Sanskrit language, but every Hindus believer already translate the prayer into their native language. In 1950, Balinese Hindus used Puja Tri Sandhya to get the recognition from the government allowing Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI)—the major reform movement and Hindus organization in Indonesia—to translate Puja Tri Sandhya into Indonesian. This translation aimed to make every Hindus believer in Indonesia knows about the meaning of the mantras. Besides Indonesian, Puja Tri Sandhya is also translated into the universal language that 20 percent of the world spoke, English. English is believed to give the best medium to other people who want to learn more about Hindus or simply just curious. As a reminder, in this paper Indonesian will be the source language (SL) and English will be the result of the translation so we shall call it target language (TL). In translation, equivalency will be the point to show if the translation is well translated or not. In their book The Theory and Practice of Translation (1959), Nida and Taber state two kinds of equivalency that the translator can use as their reference they are: formal and dynamic equivalence. Here, Puja Tri Sandhya in Indonesian and English versions will be analyzed using 2 kinds of equivalences by Nida and Taber.


2021 ◽  
pp. 311-329
Author(s):  
Aleksandra N. Krasovets ◽  

Josip Osti (1945–2021) was a poet, a novelist, an essayist, a literary critic, a translator and an editor. He also wrote over twenty poetry collections. Born in Sarajevo, since 1990 he lived and worked in Slovenia. After he became a recognized poet in his homeland and one of the most important translators of Slovenian literature into Serbo-Croatian, since 1997 he began to write in Slovenian. Soon after, he receives most prestigious awards in Slovenia. The transcultural aspects of Josip Osti’s literary works, both poetry collections and novels, are in the scope of our attention. The author not only lyrically reflects on his transition from one language to another, what this process was like, what influenced him and found its expression in memorable artistic images, but also assesses his literary bilingualism in his prose texts and interviews. Our analysis of his poetry, especially taking into analysis his haikus, makes it possible to understand the peculiarities of Osti’s poetic work in a non-native language, that is, Slovenian. Another important component of the transculturality of Osti’s work is his comprehension of the spaces of Bosnia and Slovenia and of their unique interconnection.


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