Translation strategies and their impact on different audiences: A case study of A.C. Jordan's translation of Ingqumbo Yeminyanya (Jordan 1940) as the wrath of the ancestors (Jordan 1980)
Date
2006-10-26T12:50:57Z
Authors
Nokele, Amanda
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The Wrath of the Ancestors (Jordan, 1980) is a translation of a classic in Xhosa literature,
Ingqumbo Yeminyanya written by the same author. The translation was written for the
non-Xhosa speakers to make them aware and understand the culture of amaXhosa. This
study then aims at analyzing how aspects of culture have been translated from the source
text Ingqumbo Yeminyanya (1940) to the target text The Wrath of the Ancestors (1980). It
also investigates the impact of Jordan’s approach on a wider audience. To accomplish
this, a descriptive analysis of the strategies used by the translator is carried out. The
responses of the selected audiences are also analysed. The analysis reveals that the
translator used mainly foreignisation especially in the translation of fixed expressions and
idioms, where he used cultural borrowing and calque as strategies. The conclusion drawn
from this analysis is that in his attempt to draw his readers closer to the source text, the
translator introduced a number of cultural bumps (Leppihalme, 1997), resulting in the
target reader struggling to understand some of the cultural aspects in the novel.
Description
Student Number: 0111461R
Master of Arts in Translation
Faculty of Humanities
Keywords
Wrath, Ancestors, Xhosa, Literature, Ingqumbo Yeminyanya, Foreignisation, Cultural borrowing, Calque