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)

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.