Translating across the imperial divide: the role of agents in translating and publishing Chinua Achebe’s works in French

ABSTRACT

Chinua Achebe’s influence on the development and institution of African literature has proved to be pertinent, critical, and indelible. This paper reflects on the history of translating and publishing this renowned Nigerian writer’s major novels and essays in France. It identifies two French publishers, Présence Africaine and Actes Sud, as the most important agents in the translation and publication of Achebe’s works. By conducting interviews with Achebe’s French editor and translator as well as reviewing published work by scholars and one of Achebe’s translators, this study examines the trajectory of Achebe’s works in France and how the ideologies of the agents may have affected which/when works were chosen for translation and publication. This study demonstrates that Achebe’s trajectory in French has been eclectic and largely controlled by both publishers’ worldviews and politics as well as broader discourses in African literature, such as literary legitimisation and colonialism.

KEYWORDS:

• Nigerian literature
• Chinua Achebe
• translation history and agents
• Présence Africaine
• Actes Sud
• France

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. I conducted interviews with Bernard Magnier, editor of the collection, Lettres Africaines (Actes Sud), and Pierre Girard, who retranslated Things Fall Apart in 2017. The research project, of which this article is a part, received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board, Project Name ‘Nigerian Literature in French Translation’ (2018), No. 68967, 26 October 2017.

2. I compiled this list as part of my PhD research. See bibliography.

3. Paul Flamand was the director of Éditions du Seuil from 1937–1979.

4. Senghor was a Francophone African author, so unlike Nigerian writers, his work was not translated because he wrote in French.

5. Francophone Africa depends on France to be a literary centre; thus, it is an ideologically controlled space in the French Republic of Letters.

6. In the work, The Troubling Popularity of West African Romance Novels (2008), Moudileno argues that the popularity of an African Francophone novel collection, which was published in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, was questioned when France was considered the sole centre for Francophone creativity.

7. This is adapted from Pascale Casanova’s 2004 book, The World Republic of Letters, which tackles some critical issues facing international literary arenas.

8. According to Richard, the works of these authors were always translated into French as soon as they were published in English, which is not the norm for Anglophone writers.

9. According to a 2011 Census, White people make up approximately 8.9% of the South African population.

10. Présence Africaine, a group that was formed around Diop, is a collaborative venture, whose participants include the Ivorian novelist, poet, and playwright, Bernard Dadie, among others.

11. Bush (2016, 64–82). Bush detailed that Présence Africaine maintained incredibly strong links with Dakar and Senegal, which was, at times, to the detriment of its other connections across the continent.

12. This specifically refers to critics from Africa.

13. The Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC 77) was co-organised by the Nigerian government and UNESCO.

14. D’Almeida further notes that she lost the argument.

15. Despite the derogatory nature of ‘nègre,’ and its English counterpart, ‘negro’, the founders of Negritude coined the word ‘Negritude’ as a form of resistance and revolt.

16. Nigeria wanted North African countries, or the Maghreb, to be part of the FESTAC, but Senegal opposed this proposal.

17. Présence Africaine did not reply to my emails requesting an interview. Could this explain, at least in part, why Présence Africaine did not immediately publish this novel? This subject is worthy of further study.

18. Unlike A Man of the People, the work, Arrow of God, is similar to Things Fall Apart in relation to its themes that concern colonial power and African culture.

19. Magnier, Bernard, interview by author, Paris, 5 June 2017. My translation.

20. The list does not include other Nigerian novels that were published before the creation of ‘Lettres Africaines.’

21. Magnier, Bernard, interview by author, Paris, 5 June 2017. My translation.

22. Before this translation, Le Fardeau de l’écrivain noir was Achebe’s only French essay.

23. Girard Pierre, interview by author, Paris, 8 June 2017. My translation.

24. While the editor acknowledges that the novel sold well, they provided no figures as to how many copies were sold.

Additional information

Funding

This paper is a part of a PhD thesis that was partially funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research of Canada (SSHRC). I received the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship.

Notes on contributors

Sylvia Ijeoma Madueke

Sylvia Ijeoma Madueke holds a PhD in French Language, Literatures and Linguistics from the University of Alberta. Her thesis focused on the history and strategies of translating and publishing selected Nigerian literary texts in France. Her research interests include literature and cultural diplomacy, African women writing and translation, and diversity in literary publishing and translation. Her most recent publication is titled The Place of Translation in Nigerian Cultural Diplomacy and its Impact on Translation Exchanges. She currently teaches in the department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, at the University of Alberta.