“We’re On Our Ears”: A Linguistic Analysis of Translation in an African Novel

Abstract

What are the quintessential linguistic features of translations in African writing? This is the question we attempt to answer in this paper. We undertake this task because there are evidences that African writing contains lots of translations and these bilingual/hybrid texts are very often discussed from a more political/ideological/birds-eye perspective. Since translation is a linguistic phenomenon, it is necessary that they are analyzed using linguistic approaches. We analyzed the translation of proverbs from the source language (Ewe) into the target language (English) in Mawuli Adzei’s novel Taboo. We used the Vinay and Darbelnet’s Model in translation theory for the study. Our findings show some linguistic features and the stylistic processes of translations evident in this novel.

Key Words: proverb, prosodic effect, stylistic process, taboo, translation.