Transitivity Shifts/Equivalence and Ideological Representation of Colonial Relations in The English Translation of Ferdinand Oyono’s Une Vie De Boy

Abstract

The transfer of meaning in literary translation is an arduous task since literary texts are highly cultural-bound and rife with stylistic features. The role of the translator is to ensure that meaning communicated in the source text (ST) is accurately rendered in the target text (TT). This places the translator’s role in a spotlight as his/her choices, mostly backed by certain factors, are significant in shaping the understanding of the TT readers. These choices often lead to a recreation of the original text so that it serves its intended purpose in the target culture. Following insights from Systemic Functional Translation Studies (SFTS) on literary works, coupled with previous attempts, though few, on African literature, there has been recently, growing interest in systemic functional analysis of African narratives. Therefore, there is the need for further extensive research to be carried out in the field of literary translation studies. The present study critically examines the English translation of Ferdinand Oyono’s Une Vie de Boy from a systemic functional perspective. Specifically, it considers transitivity shifts/equivalence and ideological representation of colonial relations. As a post-colonial African novel, Une Vie de Boy recounts the experiences of a young African boy in the midst of French colonists. Data comprises clauses carefully extracted from portions of the novel: episodes that display narrations of events involving the main character, Toundi, and interactions between Cameroonian natives and French colonists. The study reveals levels of transitivity shifts/equivalence occurring in the TT as a result of the translator’s manipulations in his representation of colonial relations depicted in the ST. The findings arrived at, to a large extent, suggest that Reed’s translation of Oyono’s novel is a recreation influenced by ideologies that promote European supremacy and dominance over Black Africans. My findings emphasise the need for further research to be carried out on the translations of other African novels.