Page 21 - Translation Journal July 2015
P. 21
rythme africain”, [breaking up the French language in order to recreate an African rhythm]. Okpewho (1992: 70-104) outlines the
unique stylistic qualities of African literary works to include repetition, parallelism, piling and association, tonality, ideophones,
digression, imagery, allusions, and symbolisms which are all akin to oral tradition. With specific reference to Cameroon, Ndzana
(1988:147-151), (just like Ndzié (1985:344, in Fofié (2007:54) adds that «la culture camerounaise semble privilégier la langue
parlée, vivante, orale au détriment de la langue écrite, classique, normativement bonne » [Cameroonian culture seems to prefer
spoken, living, oral language to the detriment of written, classical and normatively good language], (my translation). Finally,
Bandia 1993:55) avers that
It is generally agreed that African creative writing in European languages has been greatly influenced by African oral
tradition (Obiechina, 1975; Chinweizu et al, 1980; Gérard, 1986; Bandia, 1993).
• Secondly, peculiarity of spontaneity: Spontaneity refers to behaviour that is natural and unconstrained and is the result of impulse
and not planning (Microsoft Encarta 2009). In Africa, spontaneity is a common literary hallmark. With respect to popular performances,
Okpewho (1992:33) opines that “sometimes, composition and performance happen simultaneously” and the artist has the outstanding job
of
bestowing, totally unrehearsed, a traditional pattern of imagery and diction on a brand-new subject, showing rather impressively
how in African … the acts of composition and performance can take place simultaneously (Okpewho1992:34).
• Thirdly, peculiarity of creativity: Creativity refers to the “use of skill and the imagination to produce something new or a work of
art” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Compass) or “showing use of the imagination to create new ideas or things” (Microsoft Encarta
2009). Despite the fact that African art in general is a communal activity, creative ‘idiosyncratism’ is still very present. Darah
(1982:91, in Okpewho 1992:32) asserts that
A gifted Ororile creates by deft of allusions and analogy. As the song progresses, metaphors are introduced. Once a metaphorical
remark or proverbial allusion is made and explained logically later in the song, then that piece is acclaimed a successful one.
Okpewho buttresses Dara’s idea by stating that:
The principal stylistic tools of this job are metaphor, allusion, analogy, and other kinds of oblique imagery designed to make it
reasonably clear who the subjects are even when fake names are used (Okpewho 1992:32).
• Fourthly, peculiarity of paralinguistic artistry: Paralinguistic artistry refers to the accompanying resources variously described as
nonverbal, extraverbal, paraverbal, paratextual, or paralinguistic, in the sense that they occur side by side with the text or the words
of the literature…..One of these resources is the histrionics of the performance, that is, movements made with the face, hands, or
any other part of the body as a way of dramatically demonstrating an action contained in the text (Okpewho1992:46).
• Fifthly, peculiarity of punning/wordplay (and tongue-twisters): Delabastita posits that:
Wordplay is the general name for the various textual phenomena in which structural features of the language(s) used are
exploited in order to bring about a communicatively significant confrontation of two (or more) linguistic structures with more or
less similar forms and more or less different meanings (Delabastita 1996:128).
Though considered a global phenomenon, unique puns and wordplay abound in African literary art. In Cameroon, for
instance, Bjornson (in Newell, 2002:74) and Fofié (2007) point to the abundant use of this creative literary trait.
− In sixth position, there is peculiarity of linguistic hybridisation/assortment: Vakunta (2008:942) posits that African
creative art consists of “texts couched in indigenized and hybridized linguistic forms, namely creoles, pidgins, camfranglais, and
other forms of hybrid languages”. For him, it is an all-African phenomenon in that
Africans of all backgrounds use blended languages such as Camfranglais, Pidgin, Moussa and Nouchis as a means of
ensuring group solidarity within a community of practice. Creative writers use these mixed varieties to translate the socio-
cultural contexts that inform and structure their narratives (Vaktuna (2008: 946).
Gyasi (1999, in Vakunta, 2008: 946), describes them as “a creative translation process that leads to the production ….
of an authentic African discourse” (a third hybrid code) that requires non-speakers to refer to the writer’s native language and
culture for signification. Evembe (1988) as well as Ndzana (1988:153) further signal an even more complex phenomenon of
language assortment/medleying on the continent, which Suh (2005) qualifies as an ambivalent situation of the use of “double
language”.
− Finally, peculiarity of humour: Humour, as a meaning effect with incontestable exteriorised manifestation like laughter or
smiling, is one of Africa’s major literary aesthetic tenets. Humour abounds in the works of Afana, Kouokam (Fofié 2007) and a
host of other African and Cameroonian artists (Bjornson, in Newell, 2002).
Vandaele (2002:150) particularly opines that from a practice perspective the appreciation of humour varies with
individuals – what is humorous for one person, for instance, may just be a comic/‘bad joke’ and therefore not really funny
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 21
unique stylistic qualities of African literary works to include repetition, parallelism, piling and association, tonality, ideophones,
digression, imagery, allusions, and symbolisms which are all akin to oral tradition. With specific reference to Cameroon, Ndzana
(1988:147-151), (just like Ndzié (1985:344, in Fofié (2007:54) adds that «la culture camerounaise semble privilégier la langue
parlée, vivante, orale au détriment de la langue écrite, classique, normativement bonne » [Cameroonian culture seems to prefer
spoken, living, oral language to the detriment of written, classical and normatively good language], (my translation). Finally,
Bandia 1993:55) avers that
It is generally agreed that African creative writing in European languages has been greatly influenced by African oral
tradition (Obiechina, 1975; Chinweizu et al, 1980; Gérard, 1986; Bandia, 1993).
• Secondly, peculiarity of spontaneity: Spontaneity refers to behaviour that is natural and unconstrained and is the result of impulse
and not planning (Microsoft Encarta 2009). In Africa, spontaneity is a common literary hallmark. With respect to popular performances,
Okpewho (1992:33) opines that “sometimes, composition and performance happen simultaneously” and the artist has the outstanding job
of
bestowing, totally unrehearsed, a traditional pattern of imagery and diction on a brand-new subject, showing rather impressively
how in African … the acts of composition and performance can take place simultaneously (Okpewho1992:34).
• Thirdly, peculiarity of creativity: Creativity refers to the “use of skill and the imagination to produce something new or a work of
art” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Compass) or “showing use of the imagination to create new ideas or things” (Microsoft Encarta
2009). Despite the fact that African art in general is a communal activity, creative ‘idiosyncratism’ is still very present. Darah
(1982:91, in Okpewho 1992:32) asserts that
A gifted Ororile creates by deft of allusions and analogy. As the song progresses, metaphors are introduced. Once a metaphorical
remark or proverbial allusion is made and explained logically later in the song, then that piece is acclaimed a successful one.
Okpewho buttresses Dara’s idea by stating that:
The principal stylistic tools of this job are metaphor, allusion, analogy, and other kinds of oblique imagery designed to make it
reasonably clear who the subjects are even when fake names are used (Okpewho 1992:32).
• Fourthly, peculiarity of paralinguistic artistry: Paralinguistic artistry refers to the accompanying resources variously described as
nonverbal, extraverbal, paraverbal, paratextual, or paralinguistic, in the sense that they occur side by side with the text or the words
of the literature…..One of these resources is the histrionics of the performance, that is, movements made with the face, hands, or
any other part of the body as a way of dramatically demonstrating an action contained in the text (Okpewho1992:46).
• Fifthly, peculiarity of punning/wordplay (and tongue-twisters): Delabastita posits that:
Wordplay is the general name for the various textual phenomena in which structural features of the language(s) used are
exploited in order to bring about a communicatively significant confrontation of two (or more) linguistic structures with more or
less similar forms and more or less different meanings (Delabastita 1996:128).
Though considered a global phenomenon, unique puns and wordplay abound in African literary art. In Cameroon, for
instance, Bjornson (in Newell, 2002:74) and Fofié (2007) point to the abundant use of this creative literary trait.
− In sixth position, there is peculiarity of linguistic hybridisation/assortment: Vakunta (2008:942) posits that African
creative art consists of “texts couched in indigenized and hybridized linguistic forms, namely creoles, pidgins, camfranglais, and
other forms of hybrid languages”. For him, it is an all-African phenomenon in that
Africans of all backgrounds use blended languages such as Camfranglais, Pidgin, Moussa and Nouchis as a means of
ensuring group solidarity within a community of practice. Creative writers use these mixed varieties to translate the socio-
cultural contexts that inform and structure their narratives (Vaktuna (2008: 946).
Gyasi (1999, in Vakunta, 2008: 946), describes them as “a creative translation process that leads to the production ….
of an authentic African discourse” (a third hybrid code) that requires non-speakers to refer to the writer’s native language and
culture for signification. Evembe (1988) as well as Ndzana (1988:153) further signal an even more complex phenomenon of
language assortment/medleying on the continent, which Suh (2005) qualifies as an ambivalent situation of the use of “double
language”.
− Finally, peculiarity of humour: Humour, as a meaning effect with incontestable exteriorised manifestation like laughter or
smiling, is one of Africa’s major literary aesthetic tenets. Humour abounds in the works of Afana, Kouokam (Fofié 2007) and a
host of other African and Cameroonian artists (Bjornson, in Newell, 2002).
Vandaele (2002:150) particularly opines that from a practice perspective the appreciation of humour varies with
individuals – what is humorous for one person, for instance, may just be a comic/‘bad joke’ and therefore not really funny
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 21
