TRANSLATION OF I. U. NWADIKE’S ADAEZE INTO ENGLISH

ABSTRACT

This research work delves into translating  Adaeze, an Igbo novel written by Inno Uzoma Nwadike into English. Today, there are lots of creative writings in indigenous languages which are yet to be translated into English. Certainly, some of the Igbo novels deserve to be made available in translation into English for wider readership. Thus, this work comprises of introductory part which gives the background of the study, statement, purpose of study, scope of the study and significance of the study. This  is  followed by the review of related literature, translation into target language, analysis of the work and finally summary which comprises findings, conclusion, recommendation and references.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0               The need and search for the appropriate means of communication among different languages of the world resulted in the study of translation among different communities in the world. As a result of increasing complexity of modern society, the act of translation has been recognized worldwide. Thus, the translation of indigenous literary works should not be an exception.

Since the literatures in the various indigenous languages in the country have a crucial role to play in forging a Nigeria national Cultural Identity, the need for translating indigenous literary works into English cannot be overemphasized.

1.2     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Translation simply means the  rendering of a  written message  from one language to another. Translation as an age-long practice has been used by different people to domesticate other people’s literature in order to enrich their own language.

Today, translation is not the prerogative of any nation or language. Many scholars who are literature orientated are striving to have as many translated works as possible in their own languages.

In Africa, translation started as an off-shoot of missionary activity. When the colonial  masters  arrived,  it  occurred to  them that  the  highest  tool  needed  to propagate their religion is language. It was also clear to them that the easiest way to capture the minds of Africans was to render their Holy books in local languages.

At this point, the first problem that faced them was lack of established orthographies in indigenous languages. So they established orthographies in some of the local languages and translated the Holy book into them. As a result of this, it is widely believed that the Church Missionary Society was the earliest pioneer of translation in many African Countries which Nigeria is one of them.

When the missionaries were translating the Bible, it was from English into Vernacularism i.e. from English into indigenous languages. This approach was different from the approach used in literary translation. While the bible was translated from English into Igbo language, literary translation took off in the opposite direction that is, from indigenous language into English language.

Following this trend, some folktales were translated from various Nigerian languages into English. One of such persons who carried out translation works was Robert  G.  Armstrong who  translated  Idoma  folk  literature  and  some  Yoruba literary text into English respectively.

Some Igbo scholars like Romanus Egudu and Donatus Nwaoga published their work “Poetic heritage” “Igbo traditional Verse” and Egudu alone published “The Calabash of wisdom”. From what we have said so far, it is very clear that the race for literary translation did not start today.

Hence, this research work focuses on the translation of Adaeze by Inno Uzoma Nwadike into English language. Translating this Igbo novel into English will give those that do not understand Igbo language the opportunity to benefit and enjoy the Igbo ideology and world view depicted in this novel  Adaeze.

In fact, rendering this novel into English is worthwhile endeavor as the non- Igbo speakers who understand English will benefit immensely from it.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Many indigenous Igbo writers are only known by Igbo speakers due to the fact that their works have not been translated into English language. As a result of this, non Igbo speakers do not benefit from the rich experiences of these Igbo scholars  and  creative  writers.  Thus,  there  is  the  need  to  bridge  the  gap  by translating indigenous literary works into English which the researcher feels is a worthwhile adventure that will create a wider readership of such work.

1.3     PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Today, there are many creative writings in indigenous languages which have not been translated into English or other languages other than those in which they are written. This explains why many Nigerian writers in indigenous languages like Saadu Zungur (Hausa), Afolabi Olabintan (Yoruba), F.C. Ogbalu, Inno Uzoma Nwadike (Igbo) etc. are not much known to the speakers of other languages.

Thus,  the  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  make  it  possible  for  the  English language speaker to benefit from the Igbo ideology and worldview depicted in this novel and also creates wider readership opportunity.

1.4     SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study will be limited to translating the text/Novel  Adaeze

authored by Inno Uzoma Nwadike into English language.

1.5     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The data available to the researcher seems to portray that not much has been done in translating many Igbo novels into English. As a result of this, this research

work will add something new to scholarship in the area of literary translation and therefore serve as reference point for other researchers.

Thus it is hoped that attention of further researchers will be drawn towards researching further in this area of study.

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