Cracking the Code: Translation as Transgression in Triomf

Abstract

This article has been braided from two main strands: first, my arguments probe the conditions that pertain to the project of literary translation in South African letters, both in the light of my own research into and observations of conditions in the field, and my own experience as a working translator, a participant in a domain that I regard as extraordinarily rich but also highly problematic. Second, the argument considers aspects of my own translation of Marlene van Niekerk’s paradigm-busting novel, Triomf (1994, 1999a, 1999b, 1999c, 2004), as a case history which serves as possible corroboration of my arguments in the first part.

Opsomming

Hierdie artikel bestaan uit twee gedeeltes: In die eerste plek stel ek deur my argumente ondersoek in na die projek van literêre vertaling in die Suid-Afrikaanse letterkunde. Die argumente word toegelig deur my eie navorsing oor en waarnemings van die toestande in die veld, asook my eie ervaring as aktiewe vertaler en deelnemer in 'n domein wat na my mening buitengewone skatte oplewer maar ook hoogs problematies is. Tweedens werp die argumente lig op aspekte van my eie vertaling van Marlene van Niekerk se roman, Triomf (1994, 1999a, 1999b, 1999c, 2004). Hierdie roman speel klaar met bestaande paradigmas en kan moontlik my argumente in die eerste gedeelte van die artikel bekragtig.