Translation Imperatives: African Literature and the Labour of Translators (Elements in Publishing and Book Culture)

This Element explores the politics of literary translation via case studies from the Heinemann African Writers Series and the work of twenty-first-century literary translators in Cameroon. It intervenes in debates concerning multilingualism, race and decolonization, as well as methodological discussion in African literary studies, world literature, comparative literature and translation studies. The task of translating African literary texts has developed according to political and socio-economic contexts. It has contributed to the consecration of a canon of African classics and fuelled polemics around African languages. Yet retranslation remains rare and early translations are frequently criticised. This Element's primary focus on the labour rather than craft or art of translation emphasises the material basis that underpins who gets to translate and how that embodied labour occurs within the process of book production and reception. The arguments draw on close readings, fresh archival material, interviews, and co-production and observation of literary translation workshops. Cover Title page Copyright page Translation Imperatives Contents 1 Introduction 2 Translation Is Not a Metaphor Metaphors and the Literary Commons Contextualising Untranslatability and Retranslatability 3 ‘Mere Translation!’ Rereading Multilingual Labour in the Heinemann African Writers Series Murderers and Proles? Expatriate Translators and African University Life ‘Distraction’, ‘Hackwork’, or ‘Drudgery’? Translating Negritude Poetry: Form, Language, and Materials Translation and Solidarity in the Black Atlantic ‘Right On!’ Simon Mpondo and the Translations of David Diop’s Coups de pilon 4 Translation Workshops: Multilingualism and Epistemic Violence in Contemporary Cameroon Materiality, Form, and Translation in the Contemporary African Literary Scene Literary Translation Workshops in Multilingual Cameroon: Background, Antecedents, and Parallels to the Bakwa Workshop Feasibility Study, Focus Groups, and Workshop Overview Pedagogy in Literary Translation Workshops Multilingual Pedagogy at the Bakwa Literary Translation Workshop Two-Way Learning in the Workshop Space: North/South Lessons Retranslation and Extroversion 5 Conclusion References Acknowledgements This book explores the politics of literary translation via case studies from the Heinemann African Writers Series and the work of twenty-first-century literary translators in Cameroon. It intervenes in debates concerning multilingualism, race and decolonization, as well as methodological discussion in African literary studies, world literature, comparative literature and translation studies. The task of translating African literary texts has developed according to political and socio-economic contexts. It has contributed to the consecration of a canon of African classics and fuelled polemics around African languages. Yet retranslation remains rare and early translations are frequently criticised. This book's primary focus on the labour rather than craft or art of translation emphasises the material basis that underpins who gets to translate and how that embodied labour occurs within the process of book production and reception. The arguments draw on close readings, fresh archival material, interviews, and co-production and observation of literary translation workshops