The transfer of culture in the IsiNdebele translation of the New Testament

Abstract

In this study, the transfer of culture in the translation of the isiNdebele New Testament has been investigated. This has been done on the basis of the hypothesis of this study that the transfer of cultural entities from the source text into the South African indigenous languages has not been satisfactorily dealt with. The methodology followed is a literary study, analysing the existing literature by comparing the source text i.e. the Good News Bible and the target text i.e. the isiNdebele New Testament. This was done through the Descriptive Translation Studies theory. Personal interviews were also conducted with different informants. The information to support this hypothesis is expounded in five chapters. Chapter one explains the background to the research and the research problem. Chapter two deals with the historical overview of Bible translation with specific reference to the translation of the Bible into the South African indigenous languages. This chapter puts the Good News Bible as the source text and the isiNdebele New Testament as the target text in their respective historical and literary context in order to compare them. The historical overview of Bible translation is discussed in two categories. The first category deals with the general overview of Bible translation from the first Great Age when the Bible was translated for the first time into the Greek language. The second category includes the Second up to the Fourth Great Age including the missionary period in South Africa in the early 19th century. Chapter three discusses the cultural context, translators and the intended readership of the source text by comparing them with those of the target text. This is done in terms of the Descriptive Translation Studies theory whereby the source text and the target text need to be put in their respective historical, social and cultural contexts in order to examine what transpired in the translation. Furthermore the translation theories and strategies employed in the translation of the isiNdebele New Testament have been discussed with illustrative examples from the text. Chapter four concentrates on the cultural entities and how they are transferred into the isiNdebele New Testament. Based on the Descriptive Translation Studies theory the following tertium comparitionis has been used: A comparison between the Good News Bible and the isiNdebele New Testament in terms of: - Aspects of culture used as the tertium comparitionis (basis for comparison) <ul> <li>1. Ecology</li> <li>2. Material culture</li></ul> <ul> <li>2.1 clothing</li> <li>2.2 utensils and artefacts</li></ul> <ul> <li>3. Social culture</li></ul> <ul> <li>3.1 gestures</li> <li>3.2 idiomatic expressions</li> <li>3.3 naming</li> <li>3.4 lifestyle</li> <li>3.5 way of showing respect</li></ul> <ul> <li>4. Social organizations-political, administrative and religious</li></ul> <ul> <li>4.1 political terms</li> <li>4.2. economic terms</li> <li>4.3 religious terms</li> <li>4.4 historical names</li></ul> Chapter five is a general conclusion which broadly deals with the hypothesis of this research; namely that the transfer of cultural entities has not been thoroughly dealt with in the translation of the Bible into the South African indigenous languages, with specific reference to the isiNdebele New Testament. Suggestions for the way forward have been expounded.