Transferring Culture: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Translation of uMongo KaZulu into The Marrow of the Zulu NationMziz
Date
2023-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
This study adopts a theory of Descriptive Translation Studies to execute a comparative analysis of transferring culture in the translation of Prince Bhekizizwe Zulu’s uMongo KaZulu (2005) into The Marrow of the Zulu Nation (2005). It investigates and examines the transfer of culture by evaluating the different translation strategies employed by Zulu to transmit these diverse phenomena. This includes the investigation and examination of the book cover, the title, terms of address, idiomatic and proverbial expressions, customs, proper names, and figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, and personification. The study found that Zulu utilised literal translation, transliteration or adoption, adaptation, explicitation, implicitation, and translation by paraphrasing using related words, exotism, cultural transplantation, addition, and omission as translation strategies. The findings also revealed that in resorting to these translation strategies, literary translation often involves shifts in text function. A text from a foreign culture invariably takes on an informative function. Yet, if the informative function is overly accentuated in the target text, it may compromise the source text's cultural identity and intended purposes. Consequently, the negotiation between the source-oriented and target-oriented functions may be considered a translation process.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements at the Faculty of Humanities, for the degree of Master of Arts by Coursework and Research Report in Translation Studies, at the School of Literature, Language and Media, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2023.
Keywords
Transferring Culture, uMongo KaZulu, The Marrow of the Zulu Nation, Descriptive Translation Studies, UCTD
Citation
Mzizi, Asanda. (2023). Transferring Culture: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Translation of uMongo KaZulu into The Marrow of the Zulu Nation. [Master's dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WIReDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/39840