Mona Baker & Gabriela Saldanha. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (2nd edition)

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Africantradition

ThepracticeoftranslationinSubSaharanAfricaisvirtuallyasoldas

communicationthroughthespokenword.Numerousstudieshaveshownthat

multilingualismispartandparceloftheverymakeupofSubSaharanAfrica

(Greenberg1955).Giventhemultiplicityofethniccommunitiesinthisregion

(thereareover100inCameroonalone),translationhasalwaysbeen,andstill

is,theorderoftheday.ThehistoryoftranslationinSubSaharanAfricacanbe

subdividedintothreemajoreras:precolonial,colonialandpostcolonial.Inall

threeeras,translationplayedacrucialroleinthepolitical,economicandcultural

survivaloftheAfricanpeople.

Theprecolonialera

Researchinoralhistory,particularlytheworksoforaltraditionhistorianssuch

asVansina,Bascom,FinneganandOkpewho,hasbeeninstrumentalin

uncoveringinformationconcerningthehistoryoftranslationinprecolonial

Africa.AlsoofgreathelphasbeentheworkofsomeEuropeanmissionaries

andexplorerswhomanagedtorecordaspectsofAfricanoraltraditionin

writingduringtheperiodfollowingtheinitialcontactsbetweenEuropeand

Africa.

TheancienthistoryofAfricawasmainlyrecordedinoralliteratureandhanded

downbywordofmouth,fromgenerationtogeneration.Inthisoraltradition,the

closestthingtotoday’stranslator/interpreteriswhatsomescholarshave

referredtoasthe‘professionallinguist’:somethinglikeanofficialspokesperson

foravillageoranethnicgroup,whowasbelievedtobeendowedwithspecial

talentstorecordandnarratethehistoryandcultureofhispeople.Inmost

Africansocieties,the‘professionallinguist’belongedtoalonglineofsuchgifted

linguistsofthesamefamily.Manyworkedinthecourtsofgreatkingsofancient

Africankingdoms,suchastheMali,ZimbabweanandGhanaiankingdoms.

Theselinguistswereoftengreatoratorsandspokesmenforkingsandchiefs,

andconsequentlyhadaprivilegedpositioninsocietyandwieldedconsiderable

politicalpower.ReferringtotheAshanti‘linguists’,Danquah(1928:42)points

outthat‘notonlyweretheychargedwithrepeatingthewordsoftheirpatron

afterhim,actingasheraldtomakeitcleartoallhisaudienceandtoaddtohis

utterancestheextraauthorityofremoteness,buttheywerealsoexpectedto

“perfect”thespeechofachiefwhowasnotsufficientlyeloquent,andto

elaboratehisthemeforhim’.Howeverthe‘linguist’wasnotexpectedto‘add

anynewsubjectmatter,but…hemayextendthephrasesandreconstructthe

sentencesandinterspersethespeechwithsomeofthecelebratedwittyand

philosophicalreflectionsforwhichtheyarejustlycelebratedtothecreditofboth

himselfandhischief’(ibid.).InFrenchspeakingAfrica,linguistswereknownas

‘griots’.Unfortunately,hardlyanygriotwasidentifiedbynamebythosewho

benefitedfromtheirknowledge.

ThehighlyesotericlanguageusedbyrulersandeldersintraditionalAfricaoften

requiredthemediationofan‘interpreter’tofacilitatecommunicationwiththe

commonpeople.Sometimes,interpreterswouldbeneededtosimplifythe

languageusedbymembersofasecretsociety,ortoglossspeechesmade

duringpublicoccasionssuchasreligiousinjunctions,sermonsorsolemn

marriagetransactions.Thelanguageusedonsuchoccasionsoftenfollowed

strictconventionsofstyleandsetphraseology,andwasfrequentlyrepletewith

proverbsandwisesayingsnotknowntothenoninitiate.

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Theroleoftraditionalinterpretersasmediatorsbetweentherulingclassesand

thecommonpeople,inwhatwereoftenhighlyorganizednationsmarkedbyan

extremedegreeofhierarchy,earnedthemagreatdealofrespect.However,

sincetheywereaclasssetapartfromthosewhoneededtheirservices,they

werealsofeared,mistrustedanddislikedbyothermembersofsociety.

Anotherformof‘translation’prevalentinmanyprecolonialAfricansocietiesis

thatassociatedwith‘drumlanguage’.Africandrumliteratureisaformof

communicationwhichinvolvesusinginstrumentstocommunicatethroughdirect

representationsofthespokenword.Theinstrumentssimulatethetoneand

rhythmofactualspeech.Thistypeofcommunicationislinguisticsincethe

messagecanbe‘translated’intowords,anditisonlythen,infact,thatitcanbe

fullyappreciated.Africandrumlanguagecanexpresswordsthroughinstruments

becausetheAfricanlanguagesinvolvedarehighlytonal.Thedrumlanguageis

builtonthetonalpatternsofthewordswhicharebeingdirectlytransmitted.

PrecolonialAfricaisalsothoughttohavehadaflourishingwritingtradition.

ScholarsofAfricanhistoryarequitedividedonthisissue,formanybelievethat

writing,ortherecordingofAfricanoralnarrativeinwriting,onlybeganwiththe

arrivalofArabsaroundA.D.800andEuropeansinthefifteenthcentury.

Opponentsofthistheorypointtoaplethoraofwritingconventionsemployedby

Africansbeforeanysignificantforeignincursions.Theypointtotheadvanced

literateculturesthatthrivedintheNileValleyestablishedbytheNubian,

PharaonicEgyptian,Meroe,EthiopianandKushcivilizations.Thisdiscussionis

importantbecauseithasbeensuggestedthattranslatedliteraryandscientific

documentshadbeenavailableinAfricaforcenturiesbeforethearrivalof

foreigners.Asystemofwritingbasedonpicturesignswaswidelyusedinpre

colonialAfrica,andscholarsofancientAfricanhistoryhaveoftenreliedonthe

expertiseofspecialistswhocandecipherthemeaningofthispictorialwriting.

MuchofancientAfricanhistoryhasbeenconstructedthroughasystematic

translationofsuchpictogramsintomodernArabicorRomanscript.Thiskindof

translationishighlyscholarlyandisstillpractisedincertainpartsofAfrica,

wherepictoriallanguagesarestillusedinspiteofthepresenceofArabicand

Romanscripts.Mveng(1980:90)referstotracesofpictorialwritinginGhana

amongtheAkan,Ashanti,AdinkraandBaoulé,inCameroonamongthe

BamilekeandtheBamoun,andinZaireamongtheBalubaandtheBakuba.The

AmhariclanguagesinEthiopiaandthehieroglyphicsinEgyptarebelievedto

haveexistedinwrittenformlongbeforethearrivalofforeigners.

Thecolonialera(fifteenthcentury–midtwentiethcenturies)

ThecolonialerabeginswiththefirstencounterbetweenAfricansand

Europeansinthefifteenthcenturyandendswiththeperiodimmediately

precedingtheindependenceofAfricannationsaroundthe1950s.Thehistoryof

translationinthiseracanbedividedintotwomainperiods:(a)theearlyarrival

ofEuropeansinAfricainthefifteenthcentury,aperiodmarkedbyflourishingof

theslavetrade,and(b)theperiodfromthenineteenthcenturyonwards,

referredtoasthepreindependenceera,markedbythepartitioningofAfrica.

ThearrivalofEuropeans

ThePortuguesearegenerallycreditedwithestablishingtheearliestcontacts

betweenEuropeandBlackAfrica.PortuguesesailorsreachedtheSenegal

Riverin1445intheirsearchforasearoutetoIndia.TheArabshadalready

beenonthecontinentforsometime,andthearrivaloftheEuropeansnowgave

animpetustothetradingactivitiesthatalreadyexistedamongAfricansand

betweenAfricansandArabs.TheneedforcommunicationamongtheAfricans,

ArabsandEuropeansledtoanunprecedentedneedfortranslation/interpreting

(AfricanintoAfrican;AfricanintoArabic;AfricanintoEuropean).

OncethePortugueseestablishedthemselvessecurelyonthecontinent,they

proceededtoteachsomeAfricanshowtowrite(inRomanscript).Someofthe

earliesttranslationsofAfricanliteratureintoEuropeanlanguagesarein

Portuguese,andthereishistoricalevidencethatAfricanliteratureinPortuguese

translationflourishedinthenineteenthcentury.