Georgina Collins

14 August 2007

EST CONFERENCE 2007: Translation Studies Matters

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The title of my paper is:

The Role of the Native Language in Translation Studies

INTRODUCTION

I would like to begin with a quote from Kwaku Gyasi:

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the problematic crux of modern Europhone African literature is precisely the issue of language and its relation to the notion of translation. Clearly, African writers who make use of European languages do not have the same attitude to these languages and therefore do not follow a conventional approach in their use of language (Gyasi Francophone 8)

And it is the unconventionality of language that will be the focal point of this paper. As modern-day translators, we are used to taking the ‘cultural turn’ in Translation Studies (Bassnett; Lefevere; Venuti), but rarely these days do we turn towards the language. By this, I do not mean the French that a Francophone text may be written in, but the language behind it, the native tongue that has influenced it. There is no doubt that the large majority of translators of Francophone texts do recognise when the text is of the “non-standard” variety (Collie) and take relevant steps towards replicating the key sounds and language diversity when translating the text into English, for example. However, do many European translators try and learn the native language of the postcolonial writer, so they have a true insight into the writer’s linguistic world, so they can identifyspecific words and grammatical constructs, selected sounds and deliberate phrasing? This is the concept I intend to discuss – the idea of linguistic hybridity–the native African language and its influence on French to English translation.

The objectives of my research are clear;

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  • to find out if studying the native language can assist in translating the Francophone text[POINT 1]
  • to establish whether it is a necessity in postcolonial translation[POINT 2]
  • to learn whetherTranslation Studies theories can be developed to accommodate this concept[POINT 3]
  • andto examine the impact on translation methodologies[POINT 4]
  • I also hope to demonstrate how the development of the discipline matters in the rewriting of Francophone African women’s literature, easing the complexity of literary translation and contributing to research into African languages[POINT 5]

APPROACH

In order to explore the influence of the native tongue, I will examine the language of Wolof, using Maweja Mbaya’s analysis of language use in Senegal as a framework for discussion (Pratiques). Subsequently, using well-known Translation Studies theories as a framework for my investigation, I will discuss how these theories and consequently French to English translation methodologies, can be expanded to encompass the concept of postcolonial translation and the impact of the native language. I will use examples from texts by Senegalese women writers such as Kiné Kirama Fall, Mame Seck Mbacké andFatou Ndiaye Sowto support my argument. In this way, I hope to show how the constant development and increasing depth of Translation Studies as a discipline plays a key role in European perceptions of African culture, by explaining what impact translation-related phenomena,such as ‘native language learning’ in translation, can have on the literature of a fast-developing country such as Senegal.

THE WOLOF LANGUAGE

In their discussion of the Wolof language, Michel Malherbe and Cheikh Sall stated that:

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Ce qui rend la culture sénégalais particulièrement passionnante, c’est précisement qu’elle se situe au carrefour de trois mondes, africain, musulman et européen

What makes Senegalese culture so exciting, is the fact that it sits at the intersection between three worlds – African, Muslim and European. (8)

And at this cultural junction, the pathways of languages converge; Senegal is meeting place of around thirty African languages (Mbaya 51), the language of religion – Arabic, and the language of the colonisers – French. However, whilst French has tried to push aside the native languages, gaining ‘official’ status in Senegal, it is a language used in business and politics and only spoken by 10% of the population (Malherbe 22). Instead, the language of the Wolof kingdom is strong and resilient, and like a noisy highway storming across the land, it seems toaffect almost everything in its pathway. I chose to study the language of Wolof instead of one of the other 5 national languages –Pular, Serer, Jola, Mandinke and Soninke (Mbaya 57) – for that precise reason. Africa is a continent of many different languagesand Senegal reflects that in its language diversity, but what is so unusual is that a native African language is spoken by over 80% of the population(McLaughlin 153), and therefore impacts most people in the nation, including Francophone writers.

In fact, in his analysis of language use in Senegal, Mbaya highlights four different ways in which the French and Wolof languages interact to produce a hybrid form of communication [SLIDE 5]. Firstly, there is evidence of code-switching within conversations [POINT 1];beginning a discussion in Wolof, and switching to French half way through (91).Secondly, there is evidence of grammatical influences of Wolof upon the French language [POINT 2]where a French adjective such as “normal” is transferred into the negative form using a Wolof construct – “normal” becomes “normalul,” meaning ‘it isn’t normal’ (121). Thirdly, there is the creation of entirely new words for phrases that are far more accessible in Wolof, but these phrases are based around the French language[POINT 3].

For example, “absenter quelqu’un” means ‘not to be able to find someone because of their absence.”This does not exist in standard French, but it sounds French (161). Finally, there is an entire dialect called “le français sénégalais,” or “le français langue d’Afrique” [POINT 4]which is a total mélange of the two languages – French constantly punctuated by African words (171) and used on the streets of Senegal.

PASS ROUND HANDOUT

This idea of the growing influence of Wolof is defined by McLaughlin as “wolofisation” which she describes as “the spread of Wolof as a lingua franca” (153). However, it is more than that – one is not simply talking about the presence of a common tongue spoken by users of different languages, but also about the influence that tongue has on the other languages that surround it. To simplify my analysis, I haveclassified the different ways in which Wolof impacts upon the French language using the following terms [SLIDE 6]: “general code-switching,”[POINT 1], “grammatical manipulation” [POINT 2], “phrase invention,” a form of calquing[POINT 3], and “complete hybridity” [POINT 4].

I wish to add to these the concept of “sound imitation”[POINT 5], where a writer mimics the sounds of her native language in her Francophone works.

To gain a greater insight into this process, I started learning Wolof, and I chose to study women writers with traditional Wolof names such as Bâ, Fall, Mbacke, Mbaye, Ndiaye, Seck and Sow(Malherbe 82), because the likelihood of me identifying evidence of Wolof in their works was greater. Firstly, I looked for “general code-switching.” This is particularly apparent in Mame Seck Mbacké’s poetry collection entitled Pluie-Poésie: Les Pieds Sur La Mer where she places a poem entitled Timis (extract 1 on your handout) written in Wolof (33) half-way through the book. The rest of the poems are written almost entirely in French.

In her poem entitled Toi Qui T’en Vas, (extract 2 on your handout), Kiné Kirama Fall uses “phrase invention” to wolofise her works. For example, a common introductory conversation in Wolof may consist of the following banter between individuals:

-Na nga def?

-Maa ngi fi rekk.

-Sa yaram jàmm?

-Jàmm rekk.

Literally:

-How are you doing?

-I am here only.

-Your body peace?

-Only peace.

Meaning:

-How are you?

-I am fine.

-Are you well?

-Very well.

In her poem, Kiné Kirama Fall writes the lines, “Que la paix soit dans son cœur / La paix seulement.” The phrase “Only peace” is not a phrase used commonly in French or English, but it is recreated by Fall. Had the translator not attempted to study Wolof, the depth of this phrase would not be recognised.

To find an example of “complete hybridity,” I expanded my research beyond poetry to Mame Seck Mbacké’s play Qui Est Ma Femme? (extract 3), where conversations between two of the protagonists combine both Wolof and French. The Wolof has been highlighted in bold.

As an illustration of “sound imitation,”the poem Ce Soir by Fatou Ndiaye Sow clearly replicatesthe sound of the Wolof language for it uses a high number of plosive and nasal consonants, as highlighted in extract 4. Wolof uses many of theseconsonants, which is in part due to the unusual class system, which consists of eight words for ‘the,’ in the singular - ‘bi, gi, ji, ki, li, mi and si’ (Malherbe 29), and also because Wolof nasalises certain letters, those we often see transcribed as mb, mp, nd, nk, for example. Finally, the language simply does rely more on strong definite sounds than either French or English.

The last concept is “grammatical manipulation.” One of the noticeable features of Wolof is the lack of prepositions (Malherbe 35), and this sometimes appears to affect the writing of Francophone texts, such as the poem by Mame Seck Mbackéin extract 5 of your handout. Not only is there a lack of prepositions, but also a lack of variety. This may be deliberate or involuntary, but it is certainly a feature of the text and should be considered during textual analysis pre-translation.

The ways in which Senegalese women writers hybridise their texts therefore vary greatly from writer to writer. However, Gyasi talks of an aggression in relation to the writing of Francophone African texts by describing a “violence” used by authorsagainst the colonial language, distorting the European language to extremes to better represent their native African tongue (African157). But my experience so far of Senegalese women writers is that they are generally more subtle than that. I would describe their action as “clever manipulation” rather than “violence.”

TRANSLATION THEORIES

This study of Wolof as part of cultural analysis pre-translation can assist in the interpretation of the Francophone text because it makes the translator aware of cultural and linguistic elements that may otherwise be overlooked. This can be explained using key Translation Studies theoretical concepts and demonstrating how they can be adapted to the process of translating a postcolonial text. As I only have limited time today, I have chosen three different translation theories and adapted them to fit this model of translation – Roman Jakobson’s translation typologies, norms of text type and genre, and the cultural turn.

Roman Jakobson defined three different types of translation[SLIDE 7]; intralingual[POINT 1], interlingual [POINT 2], and intersemiotic [POINT 3](139). However, the journey of translated literature by Senegalese women cannot be described as one or the other, as it is a complex web of all three processes, where signs and languages are constantly translated.

If we look at the entire process [SLIDE 8],there are a number of different stages from the conception to reception of a translated work. Just like many other literary texts, Senegalese women’s works do not begin on the page, but in the world around them, as non-verbal signs and thoughts which they translate intersemiotically into language that will finally appear in a work of literature. The translator mustappreciate the author’s early stages in this translation processor the cultural evaluation by the end reader will be distorted.

The native language is an essential ingredient in this procedure; in literature whereby the source text author is writing in a colonial language and threading in her native tongue, the interplay between intralingual and interlingual translation will be present at every stage of the creative process. The source text writer works interlingually between her native language and the colonial one, whilst the process of creative writing itself involves constant rewriting and intralingual translation.

If the translator’s intention is to be considerate of all aspects of the source text and source writer, then surely this process should be mirrored in the analysis, interpretation and translation itself; the translator must be prepared to work with the two or more languages present and not simply translate interlingually from French into English, for example.

Genre and text type are more directly linked to textual analysis rather than the process of translation. Hatim and Mason define text type theory as “a conceptual framework which enables us to classify texts in terms of communicative intentions serving an overall rhetorical purpose” (140), Katharina Reiss defined four text types [SLIDE 9]– content-focused [POINT 1], form-focused [POINT 2], appeal-focused [POINT 3]and the multimedia type[POINT 4], whilst Anna Trosburg stated that “genres correspond directly to the text distinctions recognized by mature adult speakers, reflecting differences in external format and situations of use” (6). However, what happens when communicative intentions are not clear, and the mature adult does not recognise the genre they are being faced with?

Hatim and Mason describe a process called “intertextual hybridisation” where “in subtle and highly intricate ways, a text is shifted to another type and made to serve another purpose without completely losing at least some of the properties of the original type” (147), and this also applies to genre.

By using characteristics of the native language of Wolof in their texts, Senegalese women writers are modifying expected linguistic norms of genre and text type. The genres of the texts I have analysed so far are all clearly poetry, prose or drama, but the traditional linguistic norms have been distorted, where sometimes the native language of oral literature intertwines with the Western genre. The text-type is definitely expressive, but the native language is used within it for a purpose – to inform the reader of cultural issues related to language, converting the text to an expressive-informative text. The translator must therefore take care to represent the linguistic norms and characteristics of both text-types and both genres in translation.

The cultural turn was defined by André Lefevere and Susan Bassnett as the turn towards “the larger issues of context, history and convention” (11). An essential part of translation studies is therefore to place a text in the context of the society or cultures in which it was created, and in order to represent a culture, we need to look at what their culture means and not what we perceive it to be. In her later essay on The Translation Turn in Cultural Studies, Bassnett states that:

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the problems of decoding a text for a translator involve so much more than language, despite the fact that the basis of any written text is its language (137).

This is very true: however, do we focus so much on four out of the five cultural stimuli I highlighted earlier, that in depth analysis of the language and linguistic hybridity can sometimes lose importance? My belief is that we need to turn back towards the language, an integral part of the hybrid nature of many postcolonial texts; looking at the native tongue of a culture is an essential part of our investigation, but do all translators of postcolonial texts concentrate on this enough?

TRANSLATION METHODOLOGIES

In order to look at the impact of theoretical analysis on translation methodologies, I would like to return to the extracts of Senegalese women’s literature. Firstly, Mame Seck Mbacké’s “general code switching” where she includes a Wolof poem in her Francophone collection.

The use of the Wolof language and the unusual layout of the poetry mean the genre is unclear. Is this Western-style poetry or oral poetry more reminiscent of African tradition? By “turning back towards the native language,” and translating the poem literally at first, the genre is clearer, individual phrases can be seen and understood, and the translator can make an informed decision about how to lay out the poem in translation. Furthermore, it is only by understanding a few words of Wolof that, if translators choose to translate the entire collection, they would know they probably don’t now need to translate this poem at all, for a version does appear in French on the next page (6). The translator’s decision then would be whether or not to translate the French or the Wolof version for an English collection, for example. My translation can be found on your handout.

Kiné Kirama Fall wolofised her works using “phrase invention.” It is a perfect case of how Jakobson’s translation typologies have worked together to produce a hybrid language often unidentifiable to the uninformed translator. Translating within her languages, and between languages she has created a French phrase from the native tongue – “Only peace.” The translator who has studied Wolof to a small degree will recognise this phrase and will be able to make an informed decision as to how this should be translated; either literally from the French, or otherwise, or even adding a footnote to explain the commonness of the phrase and its link with well-being. In this way, the translator is mirroring the behaviour of the source text writer, by working interlingually between French, Wolof and English, and intralingually in finding a suitable solution to explaining the phrase in translation.

I used the example of Mame Seck Mbacké’s play Qui Est Ma Femme?as an illustration of “complete hybridity.” If the translator understands the native language of Wolof, he or she can see that Mame Seck Mbacké has translated each of the Wolof phrases into French in the next sentence. Whilst these phrases now may seem untranslatable, and more suitable to leave as they are, this does not have to be the case.