The problem of meaning equivalence in the translation of literary text: The example of Soyinka's A Forest of a Thousand Demons
Loading...
Date
1985
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria
Abstract
This study sets out to examine the gap created in translation by the non-existence of meaningequivalence
between Soyinka's A Forest A Thousand Daemons and Fagunwa's Ogboju Ode Ninu
Igbo Irumale.
The examination of the meaning gap between the two texts is made through a retranslation - into
- English - Via. Yoruba approach. Items from the source text, Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irumale are
compared with their translated counterparts in the target text, A Forest of A Thousand Daemons.
It is discovered that while some of the items are adequately translated in terms of meaning, some
are not.
It is also observed that the problem of non-existence of meaning equivalence in translation is
attributable to both Socio-Cultural and Linguistic factors. Furthermore, the various approaches
used by Soyinka to overcome the problem of meaning-equivalence in translation and their degree
of success were also examined. In conclusion, it is noted that although the non existence of
meaning-equivalence is a real problem intranslation, it is not a total block to the process of
translation. That is, the problem can be overcome if the translator takes into consideration a
number of factors.
Description
202p
Keywords
Literary, Meaning equivalence, Culture, Linguistic