A narrative frame analysis of the 1933 afrikaans bible

Abstract

The first complete Bible translation in Afrikaans was published in 1933. This article focuses on describing and analysing this translation. Given new developments in translation studies, one should not evaluate a translation normatively but rather describe it. Any new translation constructs a domesticated representation of a foreign text and culture, which simultaneously must be intelligible for its readers even while it unavoidably promotes, however subtly, an ideology. Thus, the representation consists of the linguistically inscribed preferences of the translator(s) concerning the choice and construction of discourses in Bible translation. The 1933 translation is analysed and explained with respect to the ways in which particular cultural, political and religious identities were formed. Some corrections to current, inaccurate perceptions about the 1933 translation are provided by a consideration of issues such as the context of the translation, its source text, the translation team, the translation process and the sociocultural impact of the translation.