NEW RESPONSES TO OLD PROBLEMS: HOW THE GERMAN TRANSLATOR-PUBLISHER IS MAKING SWAHILI LITERATURE AVAILABLE IN A NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT MARKET (original) (raw)
Related papers
Decision-Making in Literary Translation: A Descriptive Study of Swahili Literary Translations
2020
This study investigates the notion of “shifts” in Swahili literary translations within a wider context of communication and focuses on the translators’ role and goals, which shape and direct both the process and the product of translation. The study is intended to answer the broad question of why Swahili literary translations appear as refracted as they are hence, it is, an inquiry into the make-up of Swahili literary translations, as they exist in the target culture. Of key importance to this research is the broad view of translation as mediated inter-lingual communication. Based on such a view, this study proceeds on the general assumption that translation is a rewriting of an original text and as such it not only reflects a certain ideology and a poetics but also manipulates literature to function in society in a certain way (Lefevere, 2002, p. xi). The fundamental contention of this thesis is that since translation involves active intervention of translators through transformati...
Swahili Forum, 2018
Swahili translation is a relatively new academic field, and recent publications show increasing interest in this area of research. The articles in this volume bring together reflections on translation from and into Swahili from across four continents. The papers offer insights into translation from Swahili into other languages in Europe (Aiello, Garnier, Gaudioso, Reuster-Jahn), the USA (Koenings), Russia (Gromov), China (Lei), and Egypt (Salah). They also consider translation practices in Kenya (Gromov) and Tanzania (Böhme, Gromov).
2019
This paper considers some of the questions posed by literary translations both from and into Swahili. While the questions a translator might address as she proceeds with each translation may be the same, their differing answers often highlight the translator’s different position towards, and history with, each target language, as well as her aesthetic and political commitments in each. The projects discussed are Mlenge Fanuel Mgendi’s comic short story Starehe gharama (Comfort is Expensive) about a young schoolboy’s misadventure on a daladala bus in Dar es Salaam and Tope Folarin’s Caine Prize shortlisted story Genesis (Mwanzo), in which two Nigerian boys living in the American Midwest witness their mother’s struggle with her new surroundings
Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 2021
This article explores the history of two Tanzanian publishing houses and the remarkable life and career of Walter Bgoya, former general manager of Tanzania Publishing House (1972–90) and managing director of Mkuki na Nyota, which he founded in 1991. Using the lens of microhistory, and drawing from extensive interviews with Bgoya and conversations with two colleagues and three authors, the article first chronicles his early life and ideological formation and what influenced his career in book publishing. It then examines the key achievements and challenges faced by these publishing houses in different times of austerity (e.g. Structural Adjustment Programmes, foreign investment with conditionalities, declining state support and high printing costs), along with the complex ways in which Bgoya has navigated the shifting, often uncertain, political, financial and legislative landscapes, while retaining his intellectual freedom and core Pan-Africanist beliefs. Constraints have not hampered Bgoya’s pursuit of ambitious projects or his commitment to publishing relevant and progressive books, either written by African authors or on African matters. I suggest that reducing the scale and identifying how specific conditions of austerity have affected the choices made by a publisher over time can yield insights into the ways in which cultural institutions have contributed to knowledge production and dissemination in postcolonial Africa.
Educational Publishing in African Languages, With a Focus on Swahili
2002
This paper argues the case for more educational publications in Swahili as a good medium educational and national development. It acknowledges that education is not only a capital investment in the development of human resources but it also immensely contributes to the development of a nation. However, educational development cannot be achieved without support services such as books in all fields and in a language that is readily understood by many people. This paper shows that Swahili, the national and co-official language of Kenya, can play an important role in the production of educational publications. It explores the extent of publishing in Swahili and other African languages for various educational levels in Kenya, namely children’s books, school textbooks, tertiary level, special education, adult education and fiction. While appreciating that there exist few publications in Swahili, this paper argues that Kenya stands to gain a lot if she assigns Swahili a larger role, but it...