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AFR Suid-Afrika SOT Afrika Borwa SPA Sudáfrica |
abstract
Contemporary South Africa is a multilingual society with thirty-one living languages, of which twelve are official languages. The history of translation in South Africa is a complex tapestry of languages, religions, and cultures divided into five periods. From 1652 to 1795 during the Dutch mercantilist period, Dutch monolingualism was enforced and little translation activity occurred, even though multiple languages (Dutch, French and Khoi) were spoken, just as Reformed Christianity was the only permitted expression of religion. In the British colonial period (1795-1803, 1806-1910), Anligicisation held sway. However, translation flourished as a result of religious tolerance. All varieties of Christianity were permitted along with missionary efforts to translate the Bible into indigenous languages. Adherents of Islam and the Jewish religion were also free to practice their religion and translate their religious texts. In the period of decline of British rule and the emergence of Afrikaner domination (1910-1961), Afrikaans gained the status of a cultural language, received its first Bible translation, and became an official language alongside English and Dutch, resulting eventually in the establishment of apartheid as a political system of white dominance. Bible translations and re-translations in indigenous languages continued together with literary translation to promote the construction of distinct African cultural identities. In the Afrikaner period (1961-1994), Afrikaans became dominant. The South African Translator’s Institute was founded to strengthen Afrikaans administrative translation. Nida was influential in translation theory and practice and many dynamic-equivalent Bible translations in Afrikaans and indigenous languages were completed. A new edition of the Qur’an was also produced. Translation of resistant literature into world languages was initiated to expose the injustices within South African society to international audiences. The democratic period (1994- ) saw the establishment of eleven official languages. In 2023 South African Sign Language was added as a twelfth official language. Demand for translations arose in the fields of administration, social security, finance, law, and medicine into languages, which lacked corresponding terminologies. To protect language rights and to facilitate language development, the Pan South African Language Board was established, which created national language bodies for each of the official languages as well as for Khoi, Nama, and San. It also established National Lexicography Units for each of the official languages at tertiary institutions throughout South Africa. The Association for Translation Studies in Africa and its Journal for Translation Studies in Africa were founded.
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Jacobus A. Naudé & Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé |
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2024 |
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Naudé, Jacobus A. & Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé V. 2024. "South Africa" @ ENTI (Encyclopaedia of Translation & Interpreting). AIETI. |
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10950029 |
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https://www.aieti.eu/enti/south_africa_ENG |