Motivating the translation-development nexus: exploring cases from the African Continent

ABSTRACT

Translation and interpreting phenomena in development contexts are shaped by local and global affordances and constraints. In order better to understand these phenomena as meaningful attempts to overcome language barriers or manage complex multilingualism, the authors present an interdisciplinary framework incorporating concepts from both development studies and translation studies. The authors argue that a development perspective allows translation scholars to study translation and interpreting practices that have so far been neglected by the discipline. Africa in particular presents many instances of informal or ad hoc language mediation that might be dismissed hastily as examples of unprofessional or inaccurate translation if one fails to account for the affordances and constraints that make them meaningful adaptations to local development tasks. To illustrate this point, the authors draw on different examples from conference interpreting, public service interpreting, and the informal economy in Africa, which they analyse using this interdisciplinary framework.

KEYWORDS:

• Development
• semiotics
• informal translation and interpreting
• Kenya
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Our use of Global North and Global South in this article does not support the binary distinction on which it is based but merely reflect the way in which it is currently conceptualised in development thinking.

2. The artist’s official website is his Facebook Profile (https://www.facebook.com/afroamingos), while a collection of his videos can be accessed through a website created by his fanbase (http://djafromovie.com).

3. We use the term ‘“public service interpreting”’ to refer to formal and informal dialogue interpreting practices in public institutions, such as police stations, courts, hospitals, schools, etc.

4. One exception to this rule, at least on paper, is South Africa, which elevated 11 languages spoken on its territory to the status of official languages. This means that most South African citizens speak an official language of their country, however, the availability of these languages in public service institutions varies (cf. for instance Molefe and Marais 2013; Ralarala 2016).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kobus Marais

Kobus Marais is professor of translation studies in the Department of Linguistics and Language practice of University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. He published two monographs, namely Translation theory and development studies: A complexity theory approach (2014) and A (bio)semiotic theory of translation: The emergence of social-cultural reality (2018). He also published two edited volumes, one with Ilse Feinauer, Translation studies beyond the postcolony (2017), and one with Reine Meylaerts, Complexity thinking in translation studies: Methodological considerations (2018). His research interests are translation theory, complexity thinking, semiotics/biosemiotics and development studies.

Carmen Delgado Luchner

Carmen Delgado Luchner is a post-doctoral researcher at the Global Studies Institute (University of Geneva, Switzerland) and research associate at the Department of Linguistics and Language Practice of the University of the Free State (Bloemfontein, South Africa). Her research focuses on interpreting and translation in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the language practices of development and humanitarian organizations.