Face-to-face with COVID-19 untranslatability in African languages: Experiences of English–Shona translators in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article explores the concepts of equivalence and translatability as they relate to the translation of COVID-19 texts from English into Shona. First, the article investigates whether equivalence and non-equivalence are useful concepts in explaining translatability and untranslatability of technical texts. Secondly, the article explores how generalist professional translators can handle certain types of technical texts and then examines whether certain texts, for example those related to COVID-19, require technical translators with specialist expertise. Finally, the article suggests some of the language resources which translators could use with flexibility, depending on the translation situation, when faced with instances of untranslatability during their work. Through careful analyses of evidence and examples of equivalence and non-equivalence in the process of translating from English into Shona, the article argues that if equivalence is an important aspect of translation, non-equivalence constitutes an equally important concept in the translation process. The rationale for this position is that different languages articulate and organise the world differently because languages do not simply name existing categories, they articulate their own. English and Shona belong to different cultures and, hence, provide good evidence for the possibility of translating what is sometimes referred to as untranslatable due to lack of equivalence.