Higher seminar, TÖI & Slabafinety. Maricel Bohta: Literary Translation as “Prestige” Translation and the Centring of Afrikaans Post-1994

Since South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994, Afrikaans has occupied a hybrid, “off-centre” status, losing official and administrative hegemony while maintaining a degree of prestige within the cultural sphere. This seminar explores the continued practice of translating literary works from high-status European languages (Dutch, German, and French) into Afrikaans as an expression of the cultural prestige of Afrikaans. It investigates what drives this practice and to what extent it represents a continuation of or divergence from historical literary translation practices from European languages into Afrikaans. Using Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic sociological perspective, the research examines the interplay between structural and cultural conditioning and individual translator agency. Drawing on qualitative interviews with prominent translators and a thematic analysis of academic reviews, the seminar will highlight how this translation trend is viewed by various agents in relation to the literary and cultural “centring” of Afrikaans.

Maricel Bohta