In this regard, it should be emphasized that the translation activity and also the theoretical reflection on the translation of African literature have so far mainly focused on the novel and short stories at the expense of other literary genres. These questions define and focus on the objectives of this study as outlined below.
Research methodology
Descriptive aspect of the research
- Descriptive Translation Studies
- The role of norms in translation
If, on the other hand, the translator submits to the norms in the target culture, the result would be what is also called an "acceptable" translation (Even-Zohar 1990: 46). Toury actually emphasizes the fact that translation is translation in the target culture and not in the source culture.
Analytical aspect of the research
- Sociological approaches to literary criticism
- Formalistic approaches to literary criticism
- Semiotic approaches to literary criticism
In order to answer these questions with regard to Oyono Mbia's plays, in this study, therefore, a literary analysis of Oyono Mbia's source texts based on the sociological, formalist and semiotic approaches to literary criticism has been carried out first of all. Ellis (1989:53) has referred to this social dimension of the literary text as "the relevant context of a literary text".
Hypothesis
Sociological, formalist and semiotic approaches to literary criticism informed our analysis and were therefore instrumental in our identification and selection of dominant elements in Oyono Mbia's plays preserved for macro and micro analysis and which we used as 'tertium comparationis' (cf. Kruger and Wallmach in comparing the source text – target of his plays.
Structure of the study
Literature Review
Drama and drama translation
- Drama and theatre translation
- Performability and speakability
- The drama text as an incomplete entity
- Drama translation principles and strategies
- Drama translation principles
- Drama translation strategies
- Compatibility and integration of translated drama in the receiving culture
- Methodological framework for the comparative analysis of source and target texts
Drama specialists have sufficiently underlined this central and prominent role of the director in the drama communication chain. Is there a conflict between the translator's standards and the expectations of the intended readership?
The source language system
- Historical perspective
- Literary and textual characteristics of Cameroonian drama
- Oyono Mbia’s works and motivations
All political parties in the English- and French-speaking parts of the country disbanded and merged into the single National Union Party of Cameroon. It was in this socio-political context, as well as against the backdrop of the colonial period, that Oyono Mbia wrote his plays. Besides the introduction of the narrator/commentator and the magician in Cameroonian dramas, a third characteristic of this drama is the introduction of songs and dances by the dramatists.
The fourth characteristic of Cameroonian drama, arising from the introduction of the narrator/commentator and the medicine man, is bridging the gap between actors and spectators. The Préfet, Sous-préfet, Gendarmerie, Commissaires de police are other symbolic signifiers in the plays that symbolize the repressive instruments of government.
Conclusion
Finally, this chapter has examined the various factors in the source language system that have an incidence on Oyono Mbia's plays, thus lending them a strong culture-specific color. Since this study focuses more specifically on the translation of the culture-specific elements in Oyono Mbia's plays, it is therefore necessary to examine in the next chapter the different strategies that have been identified and highlighted by scholars for the translation of cultural categories.
The Translation of Cultural Categories
Introduction
In a similar vein, Hietaranta (2000:87) notes that "the concept of culture is one that many people, at least in everyday life, use very loosely and in various disparate senses". Vermeer's (1987a: 28) own definition focuses even more on norms and conventions as the main features of culture. The customs and norms of a culture can be adopted by the author of a text or by protagonists in it;
Other researchers, still trying to better limit the concept of culture and make it more functional, have focused on organizing the different approaches to culture by grouping the different definitions into basic levels. Given the above discussion on some of the different definitions of the concept of "culture" and in relation to translation, it can be said that what is most practical and can be used more easily by the translation practitioner is the classification of culture into levels, layers or categories as appropriate.
The centrality of culture in translation
Therefore, they advocate a reformulation of our understanding of the cultural mission of translation and its implications for the translation process. This is especially the case for texts that make use of concepts that refer to objects or phenomena that exist only in the world of the source text. Regarding the impact of culture on the analysis and understanding of the source text to be translated, scholars have equally abundantly emphasized its original role.
Olubunmi (199:218) pointed out that cultural shifts, however small or radical, lead to inappropriate lexical choices that distort the original meaning of the text. Because language operates within and as part of culture, the context of the language of a text inevitably valorizes the (culture-bound) meaning of the text.
- Translation principles for the transfer of cultural categories
- Translation strategies for the transfer of cultural categories
- Adaptation
- Communicative translation
- Addition
- Omission
- Compensation
Other factors include the type of text (norms for literary translation often contrast with those for other types of text), the nature of the intended audience, and the relationship between the source and target languages and cultures. An examination of the different ways of handling culture-specific elements in the translation process can be seen from the perspective of the principles and strategies used by the translator. It respects the syntax of the target language, but is idiomatic in the target language because it is modeled on the expression structure of the source language.
Like all forms of cultural borrowing, calques exhibit a certain degree of exoticism, bringing the cultural strangeness and strangeness of the source culture into the target text. For example, website editors sometimes request their potential clients to make sure that their translated texts sound like they originated in the culture of the target language.
Conclusion
One way for the translator to resolve this contradiction is to find the optimal balance point between them, i.e. before deciding how to deal with cultural allusions, for example, the translator must assess the importance of such references on a macro level. level of the work or collection of works as a whole. In analyzing the work before translation, the translator may find it enlightening to first distinguish the different networks of culture-specific items that make different contributions to the success of the whole work.
Considering the individual culture-specific subjects as components of these larger reference sets could lead to a more systematic and coherent treatment. For example, in Oyono Mbia's play, which is the subject of study in this project and which we analyze in detail in the next chapter (Chapter 4), such a network is composed of the frequent references to details of the typical Bulu background that the plays stands against. is set, such as food, drinks, traditions and customs, etc.
Introduction
Finally, our analysis is equally informed and guided not only by the materially visible and readable texts, but also by the paratexts, which consist of prefaces, glossaries, critical works on the plays, interviews given by the author in which he talks about the works, the various layers of interpretation , which over the years have been and continue to be grafted onto the original texts: commentaries, analyses, previous productions, critical reception and stereotypical images, all of which to a greater or lesser extent work to make the culturally unknown aspects. of the pieces smaller and more accessible to the researcher, especially the non-Bulu Cameroonian researcher. However, the starting point for determining what constitutes cultural elements of the Bulu/Cameroon environment in the studied plays is our deep knowledge of Bulu/Cameroon's history, geography, politics, religion, customs, practices, beliefs and value systems, etc. The culture-specific elements , retained as the tertium comparationis in this study, are thus based on their reference to the Bulu/Cameroon reality that produced them and also on their dramatic function in the plays.
0yono Mbia's plays studied herein include Trois Prétendants...Un Mari (1969), Jusqu'à Nouvel Avis (1970) and Le Train Spécial de Son Excellence (1979), abbreviated and hereafter referred to respectively as TPUM, JNA and LTSSE for economic purposes and to avoid a cumbersome presentation of and reference to these works, especially during the source and target text comparison phase of the study. We begin by first presenting a synopsis and the structure of each of these dramas before moving on to a more detailed analysis of the dramas at the micro-textual level.
Synopsis and structure of Oyono Mbia’s plays
- Trois Prétendants…Un Mari
- Jusqu’à Nouvel Avis
Regarding the material presentation of the work, immediately after the title of the drama, a clear indication from the author is noticed that the work is a comedy presented in five acts. Rather, it aims to present the public with some useful facts and points of reference for a better understanding of the play, its context, and its characters.]. In fact, he analyzes in detail each of the acts as well as each of the characters in the play.
The central theme of the play is His Excellency's supposed visit to the village, which does not take place, although he is believed to be in the village through a process of mistaken identity. In this two-act play, all the action from start to finish takes place in a few hours of a single day.
Micro-textual analysis of Oyono Mbia’s source texts
- Ideophones
- Distorted words and names
- Loan words from Oyono Mbia’s native Bulu language
- Swearwords
- Allusions and symbolic signifiers
- Repetition
- Forms of address
- Stylistic calques
Likewise, most of the local realities conveyed by the local words are types of musical instruments, songs, and dances in the society depicted. It's also worth noting that in virtually all of the examples above, as well as most others in the plays, muting is usually performed in the stage cues. Therefore, we provide explanatory explanations for some of the proverbs and sayings used in the plays examined in this study.
In Trois Prétendants... In Mara, Oyono Mbia used a "magician" (witch) assumed by the character of Sanga-Titi, symbolic. The emphatic expression is also a calque of the traditional way of saying “In the good old days.
- Macro-textual comparison
- Micro-textual comparison
It is also observed that the adapted sounds in the target texts do not match in intensity with those of the source text. However, as for the translation of the distorted words, Oyono Mbia has in some cases preserved them unchanged in the target text, such as the distorted word. With regard to the way in which Oyono Mbia handled the proverbs and sayings of the source texts in the target texts, it was observed above (cf.
Bikud-Si” is preserved in the target text untranslated, in allusions ii and iii. In other words, there is a 92.2% retention of Bulu address forms in the target text.
