Écritures d’Afrique, écritures en Afrique : « Proche Afrique » de Gérard Macé, sa traduction en arabe et sa rétrotraduction en français
Date issued
September 13, 2022
In
Études littéraires africaines
No
53
From page
45
To page
56
Reviewed by peer
1
Subjects
African writing systems translation back-translation Arabic French
Abstract
The phenomenon of writing in Africa is at the heart of Gérard Macé’s essay « Proche Afrique ». This short essay served as the source-text for the translation (into eight languages) and back-translation (into French) experiment entitled Épreuves de l’étranger. The aim of this contribution is twofold : first, to delve into the practice of writing and in particular its manifestations in Africa, as outlined in « Proche Afrique » ; second, to reflect on the translation and back-translation of terms related to writing in the context of the Épreuves de l’étranger experiment. In this article I focus on Arabic – the only African language among the eight languages into which the essay « Proche Afrique » has been translated. Through an analysis of the Arabic translations and their back-translations into French I show how the terms related to writing underwent the most notable changes in the passage from one language to another.
Later version
https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ela/2022-n53-ela07194/1091413ar/
Publication type
journal article
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