Translating a nose for money into French: process and product

Abstract

This dissertation was conceived as a creative project with the aim of providing a publishable translation into French of the novel A Nose for Money (2006) written by Francis Nyamnjoh, and to provide a reflexive essay, which is a review of the translation and the process of translating the novel. The theoretical framework is based on domestication and foreignisation. The novel is mostly written in English but also contains passages in French, Cameroon Pidgin English and Cameroonian vernaculars. The study reveals that foreignisation is more appropriate to retain the couleur locale (local colour) of the original text and that it is also important for glosses and footnotes, for instance, whereas domestication is evident in instances where standard French grammar and spelling rules are adhered to. The research also highlights the importance of the relationship between author and translator for the successful completion of the project and the significance of the translator’s cultural background especially if s/he is familiar with the source text languages and culture and as the latter is a mediator between author and text. The study concludes by questioning literary translators’ tendency to explain the unexplained and suggests they reconsider this tendency.