Document generated on 10/01/2021 8:30 a.m. Meta Journal des traducteurs Translators' Journal On Translating Camfranglais and Other Camerounismes Peter Wuteh Vakunta Volume 53, Number 4, décembre 2008 Article abstract Post-colonial creative writers constantly resort to creolization and URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/019665ar indigenization as modes of linguistic and cultural appropriation. In other DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/019665ar words, these writers tend to transpose the imprint of their cultural backgrounds onto their fictional works.This paper addresses the challenges See table of contents posed by language mixing to the literary translator. Rather than interrogate the theories of translation, the paper seeks to bring new insights to the pragmatics of translation – ways in which the literary translator grapples with meaning Publisher(s) discernment and rendition when faced with texts couched in indigenized and hybridized linguistic forms, namely creoles, pidgins, camfranglais, and other Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal forms of hybrid languages. There are clear and obvious benefits in literary indigenization (i.e., a larger audience, self-representation, etc) but how do ISSN these benefits transform when these languages are contextualized in literature? In what ways is pidginization complicit or at variance with imperial 0026-0452 (print) languages? And what are the ramifications of such complicity or variance for 1492-1421 (digital) the translator? What forms of discursive agencies are made available through translation? Explore this journal Cite this note Vakunta, P. W. (2008). On Translating Camfranglais and Other Camerounismes. Meta, 53(4), 942–947. https://doi.org/10.7202/019665ar Tous droits réservés © Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2008 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ 942 Meta, LIII, 4, 2008 On Translating Camfranglais and sists of a mixture of French, English, Pidgin and Other Camerounismes borrowings from local languages. Kouega (2003:23) defines Camfranglais as “a composite language RÉSUMÉ consciously developed by secondary school pupils Les écrivains postcoloniaux recourent souvent à who have in common a number of linguistic codes, la créolisation et à l’indigénisation comme modes namely French, English and a few widespread d’appropriation linguistique et culturelle. En indigenous languages.” Cameroonian youths tend d’autres termes, ces auteurs ont tendance à to use this language as a communication code in transposer les marques de leur culture sur leurs order to exclude other members of the community. œuvres. Cette étude examine la problématique In other words, they use it to exchange ideas in de mixage de langues qui se pose souvent lors de la traduction des œuvres littéraires. Loin such a way that the information would sound d’incriminer les théories courantes sur la traduc- mysterious to non-members. tion, l’étude formule quelques suggestions sur la Some examples of Camfranglais expressions pragmatique de la traduction – la manière avec that one would hear in the streets and school circles laquelle le traducteur littéraire cherche à saisir le in Cameroon include: sens des mots dans un texte plein de formes linguistiques indigenisées et hybridisées, plus Tu play le damba tous les jours? = do you play particulièrement les formes créoles, pidgins, soccer every day? camfranglais et toute autre forme de langues Je veux go = I want to go. hybrides. Il y a des avantages évidents dans Il est come = he has come. l’indigénisation littéraire (i.e. une plus large audi- Tout le monde hate me, wey I no know ence, représentation de soi, etc.), mais comment pourquoi = everyone hates me but I don’t ces bénéfices sont-ils perçus lorsque le langage know why. littéraire est hautement contextualisé ? Dans J’ai buy l’aff-ci au bateau = I bought this stuff quelle mesure la pidginisation est-elle en com- in the market. plicité ou en opposition avec les langues impéri- ales ? Quelles sont les ramifications d’une telle Je vais te see tomorrow = I will see you complicité ou variance pour le traducteur ? tomorrow Quelles sont les formes d’agence discursives Elle est sortie nayo nayo = she went out very disponibles à travers la traduction ? slowly. Tu as sleep où hier? = where did you pass the ABSTRACT night yesterday? Post-colonial creative writers constantly resort to Tu as go au school? = did you go to school? creolization and indigenization as modes of lin- Il fia même quoi = what is he really afraid of?1 guistic and cultural appropriation. In other words, these writers tend to transpose the imprint of It is the use of terms such as “damba” “see,” their cultural backgrounds onto their fictional “tomorrow,” “pourquoi,” “nayo nayo.”, “fia,” “bateau” works.This paper addresses the challenges posed “aff” and “buy” that may make understanding by language mixing to the literary translator. difficult for older people who are monolingual Rather than interrogate the theories of transla- speakers of French or English. It is clear from these tion, the paper seeks to bring new insights to the pragmatics of translation – ways in which the examples that the sentence structure of Camfran- literary translator grapples with meaning discern- glais is calqued on the French syntactic structure. ment and rendition when faced with texts Each utterance above contains at least one English, couched in indigenized and hybridized linguistic Pidgin or indigenous language word like “play,” forms, namely creoles, pidgins, camfranglais, “go,” “come,” “hate” “know,” “nayo nayo,” etc. and other forms of hybrid languages. There are This language blend has been developed by clear and obvious benefits in literary indigeniza- urban youths to talk about daily events that are of tion (i.e., a larger audience, self-representation, etc) but how do these benefits transform when interest to them, namely dating, entertainment, these languages are contextualized in literature? sports, money, physical looks and so forth. Cam- In what ways is pidginization complicit or at vari- franglais serves its adolescent speakers as an icon ance with imperial languages? And what are the of “resistance identity” (Castells 1997). In other ramifications of such complicity or variance for words, they create and constantly transform this the translator? What forms of discursive agencies sociolect by manipulating lexical items from are made available through translation? various Cameroonian and European languages, MOTS-CLÉS/KEYWORDS in an effort to mark off their identity as a new creolization, pidginization, hybridization, indi- social group – the modern Cameroonian urban genization youth – in opposition to other groups such as the older generation, the rural population and the Camfranglais is a hybrid language spoken in the elite. It is a composite language which resembles Republic of Cameroon where English, French and a pidgin in that it results from contact between close to 250 indigenous languages coexist. It con- several languages (Kouega 2003). To render their 01.Meta 53.4.cor 2.indd 942 12/17/08 12:28:27 AM bloc-notes 943 language incomprehensible to outsiders, speakers The scene described below is one of those of Camfranglais use various techniques of word incidents that occur on a daily basis in the streets formation such as borrowing from various lan- of Yaoundé. It is an account of a traffic accident in guages, coinage, elision, affixation, inversion, and which a posh car has just run over a dog. The forces reduplication. of law and order are interrogating eye-witnesses. Camfranglais first emerged in the mid-1970s Among the people being interrogated, there is a after the reunification of Francophone Cameroun recalcitrant young man who explains in an unusual and Anglophone Southern Cameroons. It became lingo why he will not testify: fashionable in the late 1990s, due partially to its Tu nyai mon pied? C’est les mberés qui ont book. use by popular musicians such as Lapiro de One day j’ai seulement nyé une aff, je n’étais pas Mbanga, Petit Pays and others. Kouega (2003) gives inside, on m’a tcha, on m’a put au ngata. On m’a a striking account of the social distribution of dit soté j’ai moto […] Papa! a no dé fo’dé fo sé ka Camfranglais: sé dans kin’a dog na dog for djintété. Dan kin’a matoa na matoa for djintété. Lep me je broute An impressionistic inspection of the profession 2 of fluent Camfranglais speakers outside school ma granut nayo yah!” premises reveals that they are peddlers, and This strange language is “Camgfranglais” and the laborers, hair stylists and barbers, prostitutes story recounted is the subject of a popular play and vagabonds, rank and file soldiers and police- written by the talented Cameroonian playwright men, thieves and prisoners, gamblers and con Essindi Mindja. Could this be described as linguis- men, musicians and comedians, to name just the tic vandalism or banditry? Is it rather an invention most popular ones (Kouega 2003:513). akin to the French argot called Verlan? Could this The lexical manipulation, phonological truncation, be perceived as the manifestation of cultural cre- morphological hybridization, hyperbolic and dys- ativity conditioned by a linguistic environment in phemistic extensions characteristic of Camfran- which official languages (English and French) have glais reflect the provocative attitude of its speakers been taken hostage by indigenous languages? and their jocular disrespect of linguistic norms and In any event, Camfranglais, a hybrid lan- purity, clearly revealing its function as an anti- guage composed of borrowings from French, language (Halliday 1977).