Eine Kritische Analyse Der Deutschen Übersetzung Von Okot P`biteks „song of Lawino“ Auf Semantischer Ebene

Abstract

Literary translation is one of the ways of enhancing intercultural dialogue. Thus translating literary works from one language to another creates intercultural awareness by transporting different cultures beyond their own borders. In the same way African Literature has paved its way in the European countries such as Germany with the help of Translation. Consequently, many of the publications about the question of translating African literature into German language have become interested in the fact that this Literature is already a translation. Thus the translation of African literature into German language seems like a translation of a translation just like the Senegalese Germanistin Khadi Fall (1993:968) puts it “Übersetzung einer Übersetzung “i.e. “Translation of a Translation “. The translated text is taken as a „third text “, whereby the French or English Text is taken as the second Text and the non-written Text in the mother language of the Author is taken as the first Text (Authors allegedly think in their mother language and then translate into the language of their colonial masters for example English, French, Portuguese among others). Alexandre Ndefo Tene (2004:17) goes ahead to ascertain that francophone African Texts are more of hybrid and bi-cultural texts than simple Translations. This Study however surpasses the former assumption in that it presents a case were by the first Text is not simply assumed to have been thoughts of the Author in his mother tongue, but was rather written down in the mother tongue of the Author: Okot p'Biteks poem Song of Lawino was originally written in Acholi (a language from Northern Uganda), and it was entitled Wer Pa Lawino. The poem is centered on the main narrator Lawino’s plea towards her husband, Ocol, who shuns his old Acholi background for Westernization. Lawino implores Ocol not to abandon his heritage but rather accept both Acholi and Western cultures. In 1966, Okot himself translated his poem into English. Thus, the English version is a translation from the Acholi language. This poem is full of culturespecific elements such as metaphors and idioms that should not be merely literary translated into another language, since this makes them loose their cultural specificity thus ignoring the cultural differences. The Poem was translated into German language in 1972 and 1998 by Marianne Welter and Raimund Pousset respectively. This study therefore was set out to analyze the translated poem of "Song of Lawino" at the level of semantics using the equivalence theory (Formal and Dynamic Equivalence by Eugene A. Nida, the Post-Colonial Approach by Maria Tymoczko and the Resistance Strategy of Lawrence Venuti, specifically to answer the questions of how the culture-specific elements i.e. Proverbs, Songs, Symbols, among others were translated into German, the semantic problems that were involved in the translation of cultural specific terms and to suggest the alternative strategies that could be developed to ensure a more optimal rendition of the Acholi culture specific terms in the German language. A close analysis of the translated poem revealed misinterpretations in the translation of some cultural specific elements especially symbols and similes as the major challenge. A literal translation of these aided by footnotes to eliminate misunderstandings was suggested as a solution to the mentioned challenge. A general conclusion was drawn that neither strict formal equivalence nor complete dynamic equivalence best suit the translation of African literature into German, but rather a blending of the two, whereby the translator considers both orientations in the process of translation and applies them accordingly corresponding to his /her goals.