Problèmes de traduction de figures de discours chez Effiong Ekpenyong

Unecritique

Abstract

Discursive figures are categories of language which underscore the imaginative and poetic use of words.
Their acceptability and accuracy in literature are proofs of their mastery by writers. This requires that
every translator should have a wide knowledge and the ability to understand the intention of a text better.
First, it has to do with set expressions; this is besides the stylistic aspects of which the object is to add
aesthetic value to a work. Presented with a literary text in which discursive figures abound, the translator
is not only called upon to give the message but to also express it in a similar figurative style using the
exact equivalent in the target language. This implies that one is never permitted to translate figurative
elements in any other form than their equivalences. We reconsider some discursive figures used in our
corpus based on the theory of meaning and the translation principle that figurative elements have stylistic
value and a universal acceptance; their meaning being a priori predetermined. Yet we note some
imbalance in the translation of figurative expressions in some writers’ work, particularly those who
translate their work as self-translators. Consequently, the translated text hardly renders the intended
meaning of the original work which, curiously, is the “brainchild” of the same author. Les coïncidences et
les polarités on which this study is based has many figures of speech wrongly translated into the target
text. This makes us conclude that it is not enough to render the message; the beauty that comes with these
expressions is also of equal importance.