Francophone Postcolonial Studies: Past, Present and Future
SFPSAnnual Conference, 20-21 November 2009
Translating Change in Postcolonial Poetry and Prose: The Rewriting of Francophone Senegalese Women’s Literature in English
[Slide 1]
Just as the research field of Francophone Postcolonial Studies has evolved over time, so have postcolonial societies and as a result of this, the genre of Francophone Senegalese women’s literature.
Speaking to Sokhna Benga, a Senegalese novelist, poet and scriptwriter in Dakar, she highlighted to me the dynamic nature of culture, stating:
[Slide 2] Societal change
...nous sommes dans une société sénégalaise en pleine mutation...par rapport à ses valeurs traditionnelles, par rapport à sa perception de l’avenir... (Benga, Personal 4-5)
This idea of societal change intrigued me with regards to the way in which it is reflected in literature, and further, from the perspective of the translator who is often expected to follow in the footsteps of the source text writer in her literary analysis and translation.
[Slide 3] Objectives
My objectives for this paper are therefore as follows:
- [click]to investigate how the genre has developed and transformed in the context of historical and societal revolution
- [click]to analyse the notion of change and its relation to translation and translation studies
- [click]to discuss how we define tradition and modernity, asking where one stops and the other begins
- [click]and to what extent female Senegalese writers are influenced by their roots and traditional values as well as those introduced by the colonisers
- [click]finally, I will relate this to a short case study in order to demonstrate the importance of cultural research such as this for the translator of Francophone Senegalese women’s works
[Slide 4] My Thesis
This paper is drawn from my thesis, which is entitled:
Tradition, Transformation and Translation: the effects oflocal language and customs upon the translation of Francophone women’s literature from Senegal
My thesis is broken down into four chapters, each focusing on a key theme and influence upon the writing of Francophone Senegalese women writers and resulting translation strategies. I draw upon a number of resources, including over twenty source texts, various theories and models from a range of disciplines, including Translation Studies, and primary research undertaken last summer in Dakar and the surrounding area of Senegal, including a number of interviews I did with writers and academics whilst I was there, some of which I will refer to in this paper.
I should add at this point, that due to the short time frame, I can only explore a very small part of my thesis today, but should anyone be interested in my research beyond this paper, I would be happy to provide them with further information and of course, I will be answering questions at the end of this paper.
[Slide 5] Manipulation of language
In an article for Ethiopiques on African and Latin American literature, Senegalese writer, Mame Seck Mbacké discusses the way in which writers manipulate language according to their own experience, saying that:
“Chaque écrivain change le langage qu’il reçoit en naissant mais le conserve et le perpétue dans l’irréalité du monde et du temps, l’écrivain fait plus qu’inventer, il découvre” (Mbacké, Littérature 205).
Language is therefore linked to cultural and personal realities, and asboth culture and self are in a constant state of flux, so is language, and that impacts upon the translator.
[Slide 6] Change in Senegal
Change in West Africa has caused conflict, conflict between Western and traditional norms and values (104), and in Senegalese society this change is incredibly visual – wherever you go in Senegal today there are very poignant reminders of where the society has come from and where it is in the process of moving to – the traditional “boubou” is worn one day and jeans and a football shirt the next, families will sit on the floor to eat from a communal dish with cutlery, and you may see someone on a laptop in a village with no running water. These are just flippant examples, but I believe they do demonstrate effectively the way in which Senegalese society embraces both traditional cultures and any new influences which are introduced into society whether as a result of European contact or internal development, new technologies or globalisation.
Further, despite the fact that past theorists seem to believe that change in Africa in general is ultimately linked to Western influence, and without that influence society would not have transformed so distinctly (Lloyd, Africa 160-170), this idea is insulting, rigid and narrow. Kwame Gyekye states that traditional societies still demonstrate change in inherent beliefs and practices over time, independent of Western influence.
And whilst this change may be less rapid than in other societies, time and encounters between groups of different ethnicities within Africa mean transformation still exists (Gyekye, Tradition 217). So, in my study of change, I am not limited to looking at influences linked to postcolonial times, but also how societal change outside of Western influence, has had an impact upon language in Senegal.
[Slide 7] Literary representations of change
From the translator’s perspective, it is important to recognise how texts represent change that has happened or is in the process of taking place. Academic and feminist activist, Penda Mbow claimed that women’s literature from Senegal is very realistic, that for the most part, these women are not feminists representing some form of social elite distinct from the rest of the people, but instead, they describe a female social reality, “elles comprennent l’anatomie de la femme, elles connaissent l’univers psychique de la femme” ( Mbow, Personal 6). And this everyday reality expressed in the Francophone literature of Senegalese women writers is also noted by UCAD academic, Ibra Diene, who remarks that both the vocabulary and grammar used, appear to translate everyday Senegalese realities (Diene, Encre 424-425).
Therefore, if change is happening in society, it is happening on the page. The realistic and often semi-autobiographical (McNee, Selfish 61-62; Diene, Encre 423) nature of women’s literature means that if the translator can understand this changing reality, she can understand the words and the true meaning of the prose or poetry she is translating.
[Slide 8] Language and Culture
Translation Studies scholar, Susan Bassnett supports this view, stating that “a writer does not just write in a vacuum: he or she is the product of a particular culture, of a particular moment in time” (Bassnett, Taking 136), and this sums up the main thrust of my argument so far – that time and space, changing realities and the location of a text within that arena is crucial to its translator. A pioneer of the ‘cultural turn’ in Translation Studies, Bassnett focuses on the way in which texts are embedded in the source text cultures. What I am doing is taking this one step further, analysing specific cultures and specific texts, and necessarily engaging with the values of the texts under consideration (Simon, Gender 140).
If, as Maria Tymoczko declared, “the culture or tradition of a post-colonial writer acts as a metatext which is rewritten – explicitly and implicitly, as both background and foreground – in the act of literary creation” (Tymoczko, Post-colonial 21), surely we, as translators, need to be aware of this crucial metatext.
[Slide 9] Feminine identity
In her analysis of Francophone African women writers, Nicki Hitchcott stated that:
...feminine identity in francophone African women’s writing is initially expressed as a tension between the two apparently contradictory poles of ‘modernity’ and ‘tradition’, poles which often become translated as an opposition between the individual and the community (Hitchcott, Women 153)
[Slide 10] Tradition and Modernity
It is important to recognise this tension or blurred line between tradition and modernity, which is representative of Senegalese cultures. The concept of modernity is simply a Western ideology, a cultural phenomenon based on moral values which may not be attractive the world over, but still held up to non-Western societies as shining examples of what they should be aspiring to (Gyekye, Tradition 263-264). Clearly, African societies were not isolated before Western contact and several traditions existed alongside each other before the West waded in.
In Tradition and Modernity: Philosophical Reflections on the African Experience, Kwame Gyekye asks “Which Modernity? Whose Tradition?” (273), and I consider this to be the crucial point. It is all a question of perspective and ideology, and to be able to translate without changing the writer’s original viewpoint and philosophy, the “rewriter” should attempt to remain unbiased in her values and beliefs as to what is modern or traditional. Accepting that this ever-changing traditional/modern hybridity is a defining element of Senegalese society will help us understand the starting point from which Senegalese writers begin to put words on the page.
[refer to handout]
With these ideas in mind, I turn to the short story entitled Mame Touba by Mame Seck Mbacké which exemplifies the culture of change I have been discussing so far – the meeting of tradition and modernity, and the union of various cultures. Mame Touba is a short story, a genre which is a relatively new phenomenon in Senegal and is described by the editor, Pierre Klein, as a marriage between the traditional African fable or myth, and the novel – a modern introduction to Senegalese storytelling (Klein, Présentation 9).
This raises a number of different factors in literary analysis, some of which I will discuss here. Firstly, the language of the short story is more representative of the novel, he says, than of the myth, and is therefore more adventurous, original and flexible (Klein, Présentation 9), despite the fact that the story may appear to read like a fable.
My example demonstrates how the translator can use a higher register[1] in order to employ language which may be more appropriate to the novel:
“L’air était figé, implacable, au grand désespoir de Mame Dia.”
This may be simply translated as:
“The air was constantly humid, much to the despair of Mame Dia.”
But in a higher register it could also read:
The atmosphere felt oppressive, relentless, to the great despair of Mame Dia.”
I could discuss at length choices in individual words, but the point here is that this story is a hybrid genre which draws from some of the properties of the myth and others from the short story or novel – and language register is drawn from the latter.
[Slide11] Translating humour
A further challenge in the translation of Mame Touba is that of humour; because jokes travel very badly and the concept of ‘emotion’ is culture-bound (Wierzbicka, Emotions 4). Creating humour in a text is to encourage an emotion in the reader, but unlike a quick pun with a clear punch line, humour throughout the short story is a little harder to define; it is more subtle. In my opinion, the translator in this case needs to create “equivalent effect” in the target language.
Unless a translator understands humour in the source and target cultures – for humour is constantly changing, always current – the only true way of achieving this is by trial and error. For example, the translator could interview a Francophone African audience to find out which elements are particularly humourous, replicating these in the target language and then trialling the story with an Anglophone African audience to see whether the translation incites the same level of emotion. Translation can be a constant quest for almost unattainable perfection.
[Slide 12] Translating Culture
Translating culture is therefore immensely complex, especially since those cultures are constantly shifting. In Lamine Ndiaye’s Imaginaire et Société Wolof, he speaks of the way in which Wolof society, primarily in Senegal, has changed and adapted over the years in order for the community to survive. For example, during the colonial period, Senegalese people first began to imitate the behaviour of the colonisers by copying “les gestes et les postures du Blanc” (263), and a new model man was created, he says, who was idealised by the society he lived in (263). He was called a “Super Coof”(264-265), “coof” being a type of fish used in the Senegalese national dish of ceebu jen.
Ndiaye stresses the way in which European contact has modified the behaviour of the Wolof people, including their values which are reflected in their language. At the same time he says people call upon more deeply rooted beliefs and traditions, which also influence the way people behave (258). The “Super Coof” has therefore become that perfect hybrid symbol not only of language but of changing cultures in their plurality.
[Slide 13]The Translator as Rewriter
These changing cultural realitiesare expressed in the literature produced by Senegalese women writers such as Mame Seck Mbacké, who will go to great lengths to accurately represent real life in her work. Having spent much time in the city and overseas, in order to represent rural realities which have changed since her youth, Mbacké told me that she gained inspiration by visiting the more rural central region of Senegal, and literally working in the fields and spending time with country people. She claimed that she needed to be close to country folk, because understanding their essence or spirit is of great importance if she is going to write about them (Mbacké, Personal 11).
Her book entitled Le Froid et Le Piment is also described as “un livre vérité,” (“book of truth”) founded on her experience as a social worker in France (Signaté, Littérature 214). If, as has been regularly discussed in Translation Studies, the translator is “rewriter” (Lefevere, Translation; Lotbinière-Harwood, Body; Helgason, Rewriting), should the translator be putting in as much effort when rewriting a piece of literature, as the writer of the perceived source text has done?
[refer back to the handout]
I believe my time in Senegal was imperative to the cultural understanding of many Senegalese women’s works pre translation:
The story of Mame Touba represents the way in which Senegalese society has changed; the young people of science living alongside older, wiser and more traditional people, the mixing of French and local languages, rigid Western values to keep people off the street at night and traditional values such as resting outside in the fresh air after dark, dressing in a boubou or wearing a police uniform. This story requires an understanding of the shifting nature of Senegalese cultures in order fully to comprehend the meaning of each word. Some concepts are explained in the French language using the words which “fit.” This means the translator must read between the lines to understand the word’s true meaning in order to translate it.
Note the words “chaise longue” (Mbacké, Mame 164) which could literally mean a chaise longue or a reclining chair, or deck chair, but I would be more inclined to put “bench” as this would seem more culturally accurate. A deck chair gives the impression in English of being a colourful seaside fabric chair, whereas more likely in this case, it is a long wooden slatted, backless bench. I have a similar issue with the translation of the word “hangar” (Mbacké, Mame 164) which would usually mean “shed” or “barn,” but in this instance I would translate it as “hut,” as I believe it is a gives a more realistic impression of village life and the traditional way in which animals are kept.
On the other hand, there are concepts that reflect modernity, the word “maison” (166) in French could mean house or home, but there may be a temptation to Africanise the word by calling it a “hut,” as the word “case” is used by Mame Touba earlier in the text. However, many people in towns and villages across Senegal now have cement-block homes in which they sleep, in more rural areas, these are then surrounded by huts for the rest of their belongings, often like a compound surrounded by a fence. In the city houses can be very modern in appearance. In order to account for both possibilities, I would translate this as “home.”
Then there are those words which reflect tradition and modernity mixed. For example, the reference to the police officers with their “lampe-torche”: in French this would ordinarily be described as a “torche (électrique)”or a “lampe de poche,” perhaps. Seeing the phrase in French, may make one question its translation, whether this is indeed a battery operated tool or an oil light or flame of some sort. My experience is that electric torches are commonly used even in traditional environments in Senegal. They are relatively cheap to buy and even hung over beds as night lights in villages with no electricity. So, if this indeed is an electric torch, we need to convey this, whilst giving the translation a sound which reflects that tension between tradition and modernity. I would opt here for “torch-light.”
[Slide 14]Language and Culture
I believe here my understanding of present-day cultural realities in Senegal has truly helped me understand some of the translational intricacies of this text based around the notions of change, tradition and modernity. Many past literary translators may have translated without really endeavouring to understand the depth of source text cultures in their plurality (ref here).
They may have been content to have researched using a computer and encyclopaedia, but can we honestly say that this is an adequate way to understand cultures and languages so distant from our own? Maybe it is sometimes. I am not saying that every word, sentence or paragraph is as in depth or complex as another, but unless we “follow in the footsteps of the creator” as suggested at interview by Mame Seck Mbacké, (Mbacké, Personal 11) on their journey between tradition and modernity, can a translator truly say that she has not ‘missed something’?