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28 April 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo UFS Archive
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

South Campus supplementary schools foster future Kovsies
2016-07-13

The Monyetla Bursary Project, in partnership with the University of the Free State (UFS) and other sponsors, presents an annual Winter School for Grade 12s on the South Campus. In addition, a Saturday school for Grade 12s has been in operation since 2007.

 “Champion teachers
in the district
assist learners”

Chris Grobler, a science teacher at Navalsig High School in Bloemfontein, is the organiser of both schools. He says, “I saw it as a tragic state of affairs that those offering bursaries and the bright learners from our formerly disadvantaged schools were not meeting up with each other.”

The first year saw 300 learners attending, with five subjects being presented. This tally has since grown to 650 learners each Saturday, with 11 subjects being presented, including Business Studies, Computer Applications Technology (CAT), Geography, Maths, and English.

“Our vision was to get champion teachers in the district to assist learners to qualify for university bursaries,” says Grobler. The project has succeeded in attracting educators with extensive experience as chief markers or even subject advisors in the Department of Education.

Description: Winter school  Tags: Winter school

Roald Rautenbach presents the Computer Applications
Technology (CAT) class while Peet Jacobs interprets in SASL.
Video recordings are also made for later distribution.

Photo: Eugene Seegers

Wider reach

“This year, the 1 200 learners at the Winter School hail not only from the Free State but also from as far as North-West, Gauteng, and the Eastern Cape.” Grobler says, “We are very pleased about this, as it means that the image of the UFS is being carried further afield.”

Lesego Modisele, one of the visiting learners from Parys, says, “I like how they brought in teachers that are heads of their subjects, who are very experienced and help us a lot. They explain how exam papers are set and which important things to focus on.”

By means of the Schools Partnership Programme (SPP), 250 learners from Thaba Nchu and Botshabelo have also been assisted. Katleho Setloho, who was one of these students, is currently a medical student at the UFS.

A special feature included in this year’s programme is interpreting services in South African Sign Language (SASL) for Deaf students. As an added bonus, a disc of the sessions in SASL is being compiled for English, Mathematics, and CAT, with plans for it to be distributed to the deaf community in the rest of South Africa via the UFS.

 

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