The role of Bible translation in enhancing Xitsonga cultural identity

[摘要] The Vatsonga are an ethnic group composed of a large number of clans found in South Africa,Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Xitsonga (the language of the Vatsonga) is spoken inall four of these countries. In South Africa alone, Xitsonga is a language spoken by over twomillion first language speakers and is one of the official languages of the country. This studyinvestigates the ways in which Bible translation has enhanced Xitsonga cultural identity. Thefocus is on the 1929 and the 1989 editions of the Xitsonga Bible. The research question is: Inwhat way(s) did the Xitsonga Bible translations recreate, rearrange and reshape Vatsongacultural identity?The theoretical and methodological frameworks for the research are Nord's functionalistapproach to translation studies, Descriptive Translation Studies and Baker's Narrative FrameTheory. The theoretical background of the concept of identity and the relationship of languageand translation to identity will lead to a detailed examination of the socio-cultural frameworkof the Xitsonga Bible translations. The social, cultural and linguistic features of Vatsongacultural identity are described, especially their cultural identity prior to the arrival of themissionaries. The historical framework of the Xitsonga Bible translations are described fromthe earliest encounters with the Portuguese to the pivotal arrival of the Swiss missionaries inthe latter part of the 19th century and their early efforts to translate the Bible into Xitsonga.Extensive archival materials are also examined for the insights that they can provide on thehistorical, ideological and theological background of the Xitsonga Bible translations.Both the 1929 and the 1989 Xitsonga Bible translations receive a thorough examination andanalysis using the analytical methods of Descriptive Translation Studies and Frame Theory.Frames examined include the organisational frame which includes the translation process, thetranslation teams, the prestige of the translation and social pressures accompanying thetranslation. The linguistic and translation frames, which include translation strategies, the useof loan words, the derivations of new words, and explicitation, will also be examined.The major findings elucidate the ways in which the two Xitsonga Bible translations enhancedcultural identity. The first Xitsonga Bible translation (1929) played a role in empowering andlegitimising colonialism and paved the way for submissive colonial faith within the Vatsongasociety. The translation made extensive use of loan words from neighbouring Africanlanguages, especially Sesotho, as well as from the colonial languages spoken in South Africa(English and Afrikaans), but not from French (the language of the Swiss missionaries). In thisway, the translation enhanced the vocabulary inventory of Xitsonga by expanding the range ofitems which can be described in the language. Some indigenous words referring to traditionalreligious practices and practitioners were avoided, thus promoting the colonial Christianity ofthe missionaries. Most importantly, the 1929 version united the diverse sub-units of theVatsonga people around a single translation of the Bible. Thus, the 1929 translation assisted inthe creation of identity through the unification of its readers around a single translation.In contrast to the 1929 Xitsonga Bible translation, the 1989 Xitsonga Bible translationstrengthened the cultural identity of Xitsonga by utilising not only indigenous cultural terms ofXitsonga, but also by utilising and coining natural Xitsonga equivalents, and by utilisingXitsonga first-language speakers as translators. The 1989 version also differs from the 1929version in its Dynamic Equivalence approach through the direct influence of Eugene Nida. Thestandardisation and simplification of the orthographic system for writing Xitsonga and theharmonisation of dialectal variants served to strengthen and unify Xitsonga as a language, thusfurther strengthening cultural identity.

[发布机构] University of the Free State