A comparison between the thematic structures of Cahier d’un retour au pays natal (Aimé Césaire) and its English translation, Notebook of a return to my native land (Mireille Rosello, Annie Pritchard)

Abstract

The current work is a comparative analysis of thematic structures between Aimé Césaire’s French poem Cahier d’un retour au pays natal and one of its English translations Notebook of a Return to My Native Land (by Mireille Rosello and Annie Pritchard). The choice of this topic is motivated by the researcher’s passion for Aimé Césaire’s poetry, but also by his curiosity to explore new research areas such as discourse analysis. And in this area, thematic structures drew the researcher’s attention because of their focus on the word order in the sentence. The concept of thematic structure deals with the structural arrangement of clause components, enabling the information flow. It comprises two constituents: the theme (starting point of the discourse that tells what the clause is about) and the rheme (what the speaker says about the theme). Given the uncommon sentence structures created by Aimé Césaire (granted by a relative flexibility of the French language) and the rigidity of the English syntax – rigidity due to the reluctance of English to accept a positional mobility of sentence components –, the researcher wondered whether and/or how the translators manage to translate Césaire’s complicated sentences structures into English without distorting the original meaning of the discourse. The study is intended to identify and explain the strategies used by Rosello and Pritchard when translating French thematic structures into English. The research reveals that seven main strategies were used to translate thematic structures in Notebook of a Return to My Native Land: passivisation, use of marked structures, use of unmarked structures, addition, omission, transposition and modulation. The use of these strategies creates structural shifts that cause the target text (TT) to differ from the source text (ST). More often, these shifts also affect the (emotional, textual, informational) meanings of the discourse. However, the semantics of the message as well as the ideology conveyed by Aimé Césaire remained unchanged. Despite the challenges imposed by the structural differences between French and English on the one side and the aesthetics of the poet on the other, Rosello and Pritchard managed to create an acceptable translation by subjecting themselves to the norms of the target language.

te identifiseer en te verduidelik. Die navorsing onthul dat daar sewe hoofstrategieë gebruik is om tematiese strukture in Notebook of a return to my native land te vertaal: die passief, gebruik van gemerkte strukture, gebruik van ongemerkte strukture, byvoeging, weglating, transposisie en modulasie. Die gebruik van hierdie strategieë skep strukturele verskuiwings wat veroorsaak dat die doelteks van die bronteks verskil. Dikwels beïnvloed hierdie verskuiwings ook die emosionele, tekstuele en inligtingsbetekenisse van die teks. Die semantiek van die boodskap sowel as die ideologie wat deur Aimé Césaire oorgedra is, bly egter onveranderd. Ten spyte van die uitdagings wat deur die strukturele verskille tussen Frans en Engels opgelê is, enersyds, en die digter se estetiek, andersyds, het Rosello en Pichard daarin geslaag om ʼn aanvaarbare vertaling te skep deur hulself aan doeltaalnorme te onderwerp.

Lomsebenti uluhlatiyo lolucatsanisa kwakheka kwetindzima emkhatsini wenkondlo ya-Aimé Césaire yesi-French letsi Cahier d’un retour au pays natal kanye nalesinye setihumusho tayo teSingisi lesitsi Notebook of a return to my native land (setfulwa bo-Mireille Rosello bana-Annie Prichard). Kukhetfwa kwalesihloko kugcugcutelwe lugcozi umcwaningi lanalo ngetinkondlo ta-Aimé Césaire, kodvwa lolo gcozi luphindze luhambisane nelilukutuku lekufuna kuvundvulula lokusha langakucwaninga, njengekuhlatiya tinkhulumo letehlukene. Ngako kulomkhakha, umcwaningi ukhangwe kakhulu kwakheka kwetindzima, lokubangwa yindlela lekuhleleke ngayo emagama emishweni yato. Lomcondvo wekwakhiwa kwetindzama uphatselene nekuhleleka kwemalunga etigaba tetindzima ngendlela levumela kwetfulwa kwelwati ngalokuvunako. Lomcondvo unetincenye letimbili: ingcikitsi (sicalo senkhulumo lesendlala ngekutsi simayelana nani lesigaba) kanye nemongo (sikhulumi sitsini ngalengcikitsi). Ngekubuka lendlela yekwakheka kwemisho lengaketayeleki, leyakhiwe ngu-Aime Cesaire (ngekuvunwa kutsamba kwelulwimi lwesi-French) kanye nalemigomo yekubhalwa kweSingisi lengavuni – ngetizatfu tekutsi Singisi asikwemukeli kudlaliswa kwemalunga emusho aso –, ngako umcwaningi uye watibuta kutsi ukhone njani umhumushi kuhumusha lemisho ya-Césaire lelikhuni nakangaka wayiyisa eSingisini ngaphandle kwekutsikabeta umcondvo wenkhulumo. Lolucwaningo luhlose kutfola luphindze luchaze emasu lasetjentiswe bo-Rosello bana-Pritchard ngesikhatsi bahumushela kwakhiwa kwetindzima tesi-French batiyise eSingisini. Lolucwaningo luvundvulula kutsi asikhombisa emasu lekuwonawona asetjentisiwe ekuhumusheni lesakhiwo setindzima ku-Notebook of a return to my native land: Sigegiso (passivisation), kusetjentiswa kwemalunga labonakalako, kusetjentiswa kwemalunga langabonakali, kufakwa kwemagama tsite, kususwa kwemagama tsite, kuntjintjiswa kwetakhiwo temagama, kuguculwa kwenkhulumo (hhayi inshokutsi). Lokusetjentiswa kwalamasu kubanga kutsi kube nekukhwesha kwesakhiwo salombhalo, lekubese kubanga kutsi umbhalo lohunyushiwe wehluke kulowo lohunyushwako. Esikhatsini lesinyenti, lokukhwesha kwesakhiwo sembhalo kuphindze kutsikabete inshokutsi kulenkhulumo (ngekwemiva, umbhalo, lwati/imininingwane …). Kodvwa noma kunjalo, lomcondvo walomlayeto kanye nemongo wawo lowetfulwa ngu-Aimé Césaire, wona awuzange utsintseke. Nanobe nje kube nebumatima kulokwehlukana kwetakhiwo emkhatsini welulwimi lwesi-French neSingisi, eluhlangotsini lunye, kanye nangebugagu basonkondlo kulolunye, bo-Rosello bana-Pichard bakwatile kwakha umbhalo lohumusheke ngalokwemukelekako ngekutejwayeta ngemigomo yalolulwimi lekuhunyushelwa kulo.