A CROSS-CULTURAL TRANSLATION OF PROVERBS IN CHINUA ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART FROM ENGLISH INTO EKEGUSII’S BINTO MBISEBEREREKANI

Abstract

Proverbs play a crucial role in the cultural expression of a community’s wisdom, beliefs and worldview through various forms of figurative language. Due to this cultural significance, the translation of proverbs requires careful consideration to preserve meaning across languages. This study examined the translation of proverbs in Things Fall Apart into Ekegusii in Binto Mbisebererekani in terms of cultural equivalence and non-equivalence. The study was guided by the following three objectives, to: analyse aspects of cultural equivalence and non-equivalence in the translation of proverbs in Things Fall Apart into Ekegusii; examine the cultural functionality of translated proverbs from Things Fall Apart within the context of Ekegusii language; and evaluate how Skopos theory accounts for translation of proverbs in Things Fall Apart into Ekegusii. The study utilised a descriptive research design and a qualitative approach. Primary data were gathered through five semi structured interviews and four focus-group discussions involving 30 Ekegusii native speakers. The participants were obtained through snowball sampling. Secondary data was collected from Things Fall Apart as the source text and Binto Mbisebererekani as the target text. A census approach was adopted whereby all the 28 proverbs were studied. The data were then analysed qualitatively while looking at the translation strategies for proverbs in both texts using Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) model for translating cultural expressions. Vermeer’s (1978) Skopos theory was used to evaluate the effectiveness of various translation strategies in preserving cultural functionality and ensuring communicative equivalence. The theory posits that the purpose of the translation (skopos) in the target language and culture dictates the translation strategy applied. Consequently, this ensures that the target text functions effectively for its readers in the target culture’s context. The findings revealed that oblique strategies promoted cultural equivalence by preserving Igbo proverb meanings in Ekegusii, while direct strategies led to cultural non-equivalence by retaining surface forms while losing contextual meaning. This study foregrounds the role of African languages as epistemic resources for the preservation and transmission of cultural heritage.