Losses and gains: a stylistic analysis of the translation process of folktales from Runyankore–Rukiga into French

Abstract

This thesis presents the findings of the study relating to the analysis of the translation process of folktales from Runyankore-Rukiga into French. The study was concerned with literary translation, particularly analyzing how stylistic aspects ranging from imagery and figurative features and/or literary devices are rendered from an African Bantu Language, Runyankore -Rukiga into an Indo-European Language, French. The objectives of the study were to analyze the style adopted by the author of the source texts and how the stylistic features are rendered into the target texts; to examine and document the losses involved in the translation of folktales from Runyankore- Rukiga into French; to examine and document the gains involved in the translation of folktales from Runyankore- Rukiga into French and to identify translation methods and strategies used in rendering the information and values contained in the source language texts into the target language texts. The study was premised on Sawant’s Stylistic Equivalence (StyE) framework (2013), Venuti’s translation approaches (1995) of domestication and foreignization, and Newark’s (1988) and Schreiber’s (1993) translation procedures. The study which was qualitative in nature adopted discourse analysis as a research design. Data was collected through a practical translation of six purposively selected folktales from Runyankore –Rukiga into French, documentary research and interviews conducted with practicing translators and scholars in Translation studies. The findings of the study indicate the importance of conducting a thorough analysis of the source text (s) by the translator before embarking on any translation activity to facilitate the understanding of the context and background of the work(s) being translated, including linguistic and non-linguistic aspects that need special attention. The study also reveals that losses in translation may be linguistic, cultural, or literary in nature. In addition, the study shows that translators need to apply a combination of appropriate translation methods and techniques in order to produce texts that are readable and acceptable in the target language. The study further reveals that gains in the translation are realized mainly through the creativity of the translator who enriches the target text by bringing in aspects that were not present in the source text. The study concludes that translation is creative re-writing and a translator is a co-creator in a different language.