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The fact that Prof Naomi Morgan enjoyed reading the book herself, contributed to the successful translation process.

Fille à soldats is the French title of Dr Francois Smith’s book Kamphoer. The ground-breaking novel recently made its appearance on French bookshelves thanks to the translation skills of Prof Naomi Morgan from the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State (UFS). 

Any translation work is a difficult task to take on, but for Prof Morgan, Head of the Division of French at the UFS, translating Kamphoer into French was worthwhile. “The biggest advantage (of translation) is that more people can read the novel. Without translation, different cultures do not know each other,” said Prof Morgan.  The only way of knowing existing languages is through translation. 

This is the third translation of the novel. The first translation was into Dutch and the second into English. “I work mainly in the French-Afrikaans language pair and thought the French would be interested in this story,” Prof Morgan said. 

Kamphoer author bursting with pride 

Dr Francois Smith, a lecturer in the same department as Prof Morgan, has great appreciation for his colleague. “I am very grateful for the translation and also very proud of it. Someone who translates your book reads it with the greatest love and attention,” he said.  The first reviews published in France are full of praise. “It seems that Prof Morgan has succeeded in giving Kamphoer a new and powerful life in French.” 

Recently, Dr Smith was also named as the runner-up in the Great Novel Competition for his book Die getuienis.

 
Dr Francois Smith, author of the book Kamphoer. Photo: Mlungisi Louw 

Historical bond with the French

The historical connection with the French was another reason for translating Kamphoer, since they (the French) supported the Boer forces during the Anglo-Boer War. The storyline for Kamphoer is based on this war. “French readers like historical novels and history in general. Therefore, there would be a potential reading public,” Prof Morgan said.  

Her own love for the history of this war, her language skills, and the required background were the winning recipe for the skilful translation of the novel. “I enjoyed reading the novel – a requirement when you are working as a translator for months on a text,” she said. 

Translation not an easy process

The best and only French-Afrikaans dictionary dates from the 1950s. According to Prof Morgan, translation is a very difficult process, as translators and interpreters normally translate into their mother tongue and not the other way around.  “The translation process with any novel is handled by two publishers; in this case, Tafelberg (South Africa) and Actes Sud (France),” Prof Morgan said. The translator is appointed after that. Prof Morgan worked with Georges Lory, a well-known French translator who understands Afrikaans.

 With unique words and phrases in Afrikaans, it can be quite a struggle to translate from Afrikaans into French. Words that are inherent to a language and/or culture can be difficult to translate. “One of the challenges was also the fact that the main character, Susan Nell, at times quoted from the Dutch State Bible written in seventeenth-century Dutch. What do you do with this? Or with the Afrikaans onomatopoeia of bird sounds?” Prof Morgan explained. 
 
Future plans for more Afrikaans-French translations?

Future plans for the translation of other books into French unfortunately do not depend on Prof Morgan, because the contracts are concluded between publishers, and because Afrikaans novels are usually first translated into English. “Therefore, if translation errors occur in the English version, the French translator does not realise this,” Prof Morgan said. There are also only three French translators who can translate directly from Afrikaans.  

News Archive

UFS Odeion School of Music (OSM) launched
2011-09-15

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Odeion School of Music will be launched at the first Dean’s Concert in the Odeion on the Bloemfontein Campus on Friday, 16 September 2011.

The former Department of Music, in the Faculty of Humanities, has been transformed and will henceforth be known as the Odeion School of Music (OSM). This follows in the path of the corporate transition currently taking place at the university, which aims to reflect the progressive and dynamic striving towards excellence, as endorsed by the UFS Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, and his management group.
 
Two years ago the faculty formulated a new mission with the aim to become an international faculty of excellence. An important component of it has been to create a pro-active marketing strategy and policy towards internationalisation and curriculum development.
 
The name Odeion School of Music portrays not only an excellent asset in the Free State, but also nationally and internationally. The school’s new name bears the respected Odeion brand and a number of successful and respected ensembles operate under this brand. These include the acclaimed residential Odeion String Quartet, as well as the Music Department’s student ensembles, the Junior Odeion String Quartet, the Odeion Sinfonia, and the Odeion Choir.
 
According to Prof. Nicol Viljoen, the Chairperson of the OSM, the name change was motivated by the following objectives:
  • The idea of a school within the Faculty of Humanities not only reflects an academic profile that does justice to the intention of the Department to reposition itself, but also simulates the current identity of the unit. This encompasses diverse thematic entities not only from an academic perspective, but also from a community and cultural perspective. The unit does this through providing services, which include arts entertainment, the provision of facilities, as well as a strong emphasis on community development.
  • With regard to an international perspective, it provides attractive possibilities not only from the perspective of a marketing and publicity profile, but also with regard to the identity of the unit.  
  • Hypothetically the new name allows more flexibility to complement the profile with reference to newly anticipated developments. These include the application of prestigious international experts as artistic fellows, membership to progressive European, jointly developed degree programmes and curriculum development initiatives, the founding of a chair in Orchestra Conducting, a master’s degree in Arts Management, as well as the incorporation of bio-kinetics in the teaching methodologies of performance practice, to name but a few.
  • From a management perspective it could also consolidate the perspective of scarce skill specialisation.
  • To give momentum to the establishment of the OSM, Mr Marius Coetzee was appointed as Innovation Manager. He is a former Project Manager of the European Degree in International Music Management – a joint degree initiative between three Universities from Norway, the Netherlands and Finland, funded by the EU in Brussels. His aim will be to develop and investigate aspects such as internationalisation, marketing, pro-active recruitment strategies, curriculum development and innovative teaching methodologies.
Mr Coetzee said music conservatories, from both European and American perspectives are managed and maintained as highly successful and substantial brands. From the European perspective some examples include the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (Finland), the Liszt Academy in Budapest (Hungary), the Grieg Academy in Bergen (Norway) and the former Sweelinck Academy in Amsterdam (Netherlands). Similar to the South African milieu, the majority of music conservatories in the USA and Canada are resident within an academic university.
However, unlike the South African reality, the majority of these institutions have a value-added identity portrayed by a specific name. Such an example is the renowned Peabody Conservatory of the University of Baltimore or the Jacobs School of Music at the Indiana University Bloomington, to name but a few.
 
The Dean’s Concert will highlight performances of students in the school. The concert will probably become a regular event in future Spring Music Festivals.


Media Release
15 September 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za
 

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