IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD) Department of Languages and Linguistics, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. Abstract This paper is an in-depth evaluation of the translation of humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, a novel which has been translated into the French language as Le monde s’effondre by Michel Ligny. Since humour is an interesting and important aspect of human life, this paper examines the cultural, linguistic and semantic challenges posed in the translation of humour in a novel originating from a culture different from that of the translator. For translation to be judged effective and faithful, the sentiments evoked in the readers of the original text must also be felt by the readers of the target texts. Adopting the Interpretive Approach, the paper reveals that Michel Ligny has demonstrated great understanding of the culture of the source text. The paper concludes that the translator has been faithful in the translation of humour in the novel. Key words: Humour, Translation, Interpretive Approach, Fidelity Introduction Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart cannot be classified as a comedy. Nevertheless, even in tragedies and tragi-comedies, humour is thrown in from time to time in order to lift the fog of sadness a bit. After all, literature is a reflection of the society. And the society is characterized by good and bad, hills and valleys, joy and pain, grief and laughter. According to Weinstock and Ramadan (1979: 126-127), Things Fall Apart is so patently an excellent realistic novel that readers have been able to derive much of value from it without having to read deeply. Humour is an interesting aspect of human life and varies from culture to culture. “Translating across cultures” and “cultural proficiency”, according to Katan (1999.1), have become buzz words in translating and interpreting. A humorous situation in one culture may turn out to be a scandalous or even a gruesome one in another culture. For Femi Ojo-Ade (1989), the way people live is their culture; the totality of their beliefs, codes of conduct, technique, all elements that are necessary for existence and survival in a social setting. Katan (1999:16) has remarked that people instinctively know what “culture” means to them and to what culture they belong, and that even though we all know to which culture we belong, definition of the word has been elusive and difficult. Humour plays a very vital role in human society. Life without humour would be dreary and stifling. Humour acts as the conveyor belt through which man’s tension, frustrations, fears, apprehension, gloom and even grief, evaporate from his body. Vicissitudes of daily existence become less oppressive and less alarming when humour creeps in. It must be stated here clearly that humour is not just an outlet for man’s over-heated emotions and passions. It is also a medium through which people pass their time in excitement. There is nothing as calming as an outburst of rapturous guffaws from a group of people just sitting around or even doing hard jobs. It is no gainsaying that humour does not only operate on the oral level. In written literature humour IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 5 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart has continued to exist especially through comedies. Comedy is usually accentuated by laughter-inducing scenes, statements, and actions. In contemporary societies, it is remarkable that men and women have taken humour to another level. We know of people both within the African societies as well as in the western world, who make a living out of humour. The Nigerian Television Programme “Night of a thousand laughs” is an apt example of humour that attracts income. The Afro-American comedian Bill Cosby achieved fame through a skilful handling of humour. We can say the same for programmes like “Mr. Bean”, “Some Mothers do have them”, “Tom and Jerry” and the popular children series “Home Alone”. With the advent of the Information and Communication Technology, the social media has become an avenue for young people to display their creativity through short comedy skits. Life would be gloomy without humour. Clarification of terms Humour This concept has multiple definitions. The Merriam – Webster defines it as “a changeable state of mind often influenced by circumstances” or “the amusing quality of things”. However, the definition by the Britannica (2024) as a “type of stimulation that tends to elicit the laughter reflex”, is considered more suitable for the subject matter of this paper. Translation The phenomenon called “translation” has been defined in many ways by many scholars. For John C. Catford (1965:20), translation is: the replacement of textual material in the SL by equivalent textual material in another language, that is, an operation performed on language whereby a text is substituted in one language for a text in another. According to Eugene A. Nida and Charles R. Taber (1974:12), translation consists of reproducing in the receptor language, the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. A natural rendering of the ST (Source Text) into the TT (Target Text) should fit into the receptor language and culture. Interpretive Approach The emphasis of the Interpretive theory of translation on the transfer of meaning or sense from the Source Language (SL) to the Target Language (TL) using the equivalent form. Most scholars refer to this theory as the “Interpretative Theory”. The central point of this theory is that the translator does not concentrate on words or linguistic structures present in the SL, but rather on the meaning and the sense that these words carry. It sees translation process not as a direct conversion of the linguistic meaning of the source language meaning, but as a conversion from source language to sense, the intermediate link being non-verbal thought which, once consciously grasped, can then be expressed in any language regardless of the words being used in the original language. Fidelity Marianne Lederer (1994), citing Ampero Hurtardo, says that fidelity is defined on the basis of the intentions of the author, the text language and the reader. The three factors are inseparable. Fidelity, which also means “faithfulness”, is defined by Longman’s Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995) as “The quality of not changing something when you are IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 6 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart producing it again in a different form…by translating.” Wikipedia gives us the following definition of the term: The extent to which a translator accurately renders the meaning of the source text without adding to or subtracting from it, without intensifying or weakening any part of the meaning and otherwise without distorting it. Literature review In a functional approach to translation great emphasis is laid on target language production of text and on the fact that the text in the target language should meet the expectations of the target readers as well as the textual requirements of the target culture, (Jakobson :1959; Neubert: 1985; Neubert & Steeve: 1992; Snell – Hornby, Honig, Kusmaul & Schmidt:1998; Vincze:2004). One of the qualities of a good translator is that of creator. Humour is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. It is the only form of communication whereby a stimulus produces predictable, stereotyped response on the level of psychological reflex and includes practical jokes, anecdotes, irony, jibes, brainteasers, epigram(Britannica:2024).The result of humour is always one thing: laughter. However, we are going to limit ourselves to four kinds of humour, namely: jokes, satires, scatology and accidental humour. A joke is anything said or done to cause laughter or amusement, (Oxford Languages Online). Nilsen & Nilsen (2000) identify four basic types of jokes: (a) the concealing of knowledge later revealed, (b) the substitution of one concept for another, (c) an unexpected conclusion to a logical progression, and ( d) the slipping-on-a-banana-peel. Satire, according to the Oxford Languages Online is “the use of humour, irony, exaggeration or ridicule to express and criticise people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the interest of contemporary politics and other topical issues”. It is also defined as “a literary art of diminishing or derogating a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking towards it attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn or indignation “(Abrams, 2005:284). Critics identify two divisions of satire, namely formal (or direct satire) and indirect satire. In formal satire the satiric character speaks out in the first person. This “I” may address either the reader or else a character within the work itself who is called the “adversarius” and whose major function is to elicit and add ridicule to the satiric speaker’s comments (Abrams, ibid 285). Abrams goes on to distinguish two types of formal satires namely “Horatian” and “Juvenalian” satires, taking their names from the great Roman satirists Horace and Juvenal. In Horatian satire, the speaker manifests the character of an urbane, witty and tolerant man of the world. In contrast, in Juvenalian satire, the speaker is a serious moralist. Scatology is defined by the Longman Dictonary of Contemporary English (1995) as “great interest in human bowels, bodily waste” etc. It is actually a word of Greek origin with the root “scato” which means “faeces” or “excrement”. [Odebunmi & Ogunleye, 2003:244)]. In the context of humour, scatology refers to jokes about bodily functions and the parts of the body not usually talked about in polite societies (Nilsen & Nilsen 2000:261). Again, Nilsen & Nilsen (ibid:175) identify the following types of accidental humour.(a). creating new names for already existing eponyms e.g. PhD – piled higher and deeper. There are some popular examples in the Nigerian society like (a) * NEPA plc – Never Expect Power Always please light candle * IBB – International beg beg * ITT – International thief thief (these last two were coined by the deceased activist- juju musician, Fela Ransome Kuti). * OYO – on your own IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 7 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart *IBO – I before others *WWW.com – women with wings come onto me. *OBAMA—ordinary black African managing America b. putting clipped forms or letters and numbers together and making them sound like words e.g. Alinco 4 u – Alinco for you. With the advent of ICT, this form of accidental humour has become very popular. Text messages on the GSM are generally written in this makeshift shorthand manner e.g. dnt 4get 2c me – don’t forget to see me. c. short and easy-to-read messages. Some allude to sexual intercourse e.g. nurses do it with care… d. pattern based on the idea of wind-up dolls e.g. The Elizabeth Taylor doll: wind it up and it wrecks two marriages. The Frank Sinatra doll: wind it up and it chases another doll (Nilsen & Nilsen, Ibid:175). Translation of humourin Things Fall Apart We shall now examine how faithfully humour has been translated in the novel under consideration. Henceforth, Things Fall Apart shall be referred to as TFA while Le monde s’effondre shall be LMS. The discussion shall examine the four classes of humour earlier identified. Translation of Jokes (i) The story was always told of a wealthy man who set before his guests a mound of foo-foo so high that those who sat on one side couldnot see what was happening on the other, and it was not until late in the evening that one of them saw for the first time his in-law who had arrived during the course of the meal and had fallen to on the opposite side. It was only then that they exchanged greetings and shook hands over what was left of the food (pg. 26). On racontait toujours l’histoire d’un homme riche qui avait placé devant ses hôtes une si haute montagne de fofo que ceux qui étaient assis d’un côté ne pouvaient voir ce qui se passait de l’autre, et il fallut attendre jusque tard dans la soirée pour que l’un d’eux voie pour la première fois son frère par alliance qui était arrivé pendant le repas et s’était attablé du côté opposé. Ce fut alors seulement qu’ils échangèrent des congratulations et se serrèrent la main par-dessus ce qui restait de la nourriture (p. 50). The main activity of the translation here is that of transmission of culture. The practice of many people eating from the same dish at the same time is purely cultural and truly African. Ligny has successfully translated this cultural practice plus the humour of the extra-ordinary foo-foo into the target language. (ii) “It is like the story of white men who, they say, are white like this piece of chalk” said Obierika. He held up a piece of chalk…” And these white men, they say, have no toes”. “And have you never seen them?” asked Machi. “Have you?” asked Obierika “One of them passes here frequently”…“His name is Amadi”. Those who knew Amadi laughed. He was a leper, and the polite name for leprosy was “the white skin” (pg. 51-52). IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 8 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart “C’est comme l’histoire des hommes blancs qui, à ce qu’on dit, sont blancs comme ce morceau de craie”, dit Obierika. Il tendait un morceau de craie… “Et ces hommes blancs, a ce qu’on dit, n’ont pas de doigts de pied”. - Et tu n’en as jamais vu? Demanda Machi. - Et toi? Demanda Obierika - L’un d’eux passe souvent par ici, dit Machi. Son nom est Amadi. Ceux qui connaissaient Amadi éclatèrent de rire. C’etait lépreux et le nom poli pour la lèpre était “la peau blanche” (p. 91) . (iii) “God will not permit it” said Okonkwo. “I do not know how to thank you”“I can tell you”, said Obierika. Kill one of your sons for me” “That will not be enough” said Okonkwo.“Then kill yourself” said Obierika. “Forgive me”, said Okonkwo, smiling.“I shall not talk about thanking you anymore” (pg. 100). - Dieu ne le permettra pas, dit Okonkwo.Je ne sais comment te remercier. - Je peux te le dire, dit Obierika. Tue un de tes fils pour moi. -Cela ne suffirait pas, dit Okonkwo. -Alors tue-toi toi-même, dit Obierika. -Pardonne-moi, dit Okonkwo en souriant. -Je ne parlerai plus de te remercier (p. 172). (iv) You told us with your own mouth that there was only one god. Now you talk about his son. He must have a wife, then.(pg. 103). “Vous nous avez dit de votre propre bouche qu’il n’y avait qu’un seul dieu. Maintenant vous parlez de son fils. Il doit avoir une femme, alors” (pg. 177). (v). It was said that he wore glasses on his eyes so that he could see and talk to evil spirits (pg. 106). On disait qu’il portait des verres sur les yeux de sorte qu’il pouvait voir les esprits du mal et leur parler (p. 180-181). (vi). The white missionary was very proud of him and he was one of the first men in Umuofia to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, or Holy Feast as it was called in Ibo. Ogbuefi Ugonna had thought of the feast in terms of eating and drinking… he had therefore put his drinking-horn into his goatskin bag for the occasion (pg. 123). Le missionnaire blanc était très fier de lui, et il fut un des premiers hommes d’Umuofiaà recevoir le sacrement de la Sainte Communion, ou du Saint Repas comme on l’appelait en Ibo. Ogbuefi Ugonna avait cru que le Repas consistait à manger et à boire… il avait donc mis sa corne à boire dans son sac de peau de chèvre à cette occasion (p. 20). (vii). There was once a man who went to sell a goat. He led it on a thick rope which he tied round his wrist. But as he walkedthrough the market he realized that people were pointing at him as they do to a madman.He could not understand it until he looked back and saw that what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat but a heavy log of wood(pg. 79). IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 9 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Un jour, un homme était allé vendre une chèvre.Il la menait au bout d’une solide corde qu’il avait enroulée autour de son poignet. Mais tandis qu’il déambulait à travers le marché, il se rendit compte que les gens le désignaient du doigt comme on le fait pour un fou. Il n’y comprit rien jusqu’ à ce qu’il tourne la tête et voie que ce qu’il tenait en laisse n’était pas une chèvre, mais une lourde buche de bois (p. 139). . In text (ii) Achebe uses hyperbole. The white man is not really as white as chalk but the speaker just wants to make jest of the mysterious white man. The reference to their toe- less legs and the allusion to leprosy adds colour to the humour. The translation of “white like this piece of chalk”, “have no toes” “passes here frequently” and the surprising revelation “His name is Amadi” rendered into French respectively as “blancs comme ce morceau de craie”, “n’ont pas de doigts de pied”, “passe souvent par ici” and “son nom est Amadi” makes the target reader to be equally entertained as the source reader. The reader in the target language is also made to appreciate the ignorant exaggerations of the illiterate villagers of Umuofia in which is embedded the humour. In (iii) the seriousness of Okonkwo’s tone at the beginning of the exchange between him and his friend Obierika, which Obierika also echoes in his response “I can tell you”, only to change it with his next statement which is so ridiculous that it punctures that grave atmosphere, makes the English reader to at least grin. Obierika’s next suggestion “Then kill yourself”, which Ligny translates as, “alors tue-toi toi-même”, would surely make the two readers burst into laughter. In (iv) the phrases “with your own mouth” “now you talk about his son”, “a wife then” which make the white missionary look like a liar, and their translation into French as “de votre propre bouche”, “maintennt vous parlez de son fils” “une femme alors” carries scintillating humour. The word “own” carries heavy ridicule and its inclusion in the translation by Ligny as “propre” carries this heavy ridicule across into the target language. The humour here is crowned by the insinuation that God has a wife and this is also properly translated. This joke, actually, has a satirical undertone. In texts (v) and (vi), which Ligny translates word for word, the humour here is not hidden at all. The naked jokes are well translated into the target language. In text (vii) the humour manifests in the tail end of the narrative “he looked back and saw what he led at the end of the tether was not a goat but a heavy log of wood”. The obvious but imagined consternation, shame and confusion of the man whose goat had been exchanged for a log of wood by a smart thief puts this joke along the line of “slipping-on-the- banana peel”. This humour has been adequately translated. We can say, on the whole, that Ligny’s translation of jokes respects the concept of faithfulness in translation. He has transformed the humour in the texts cited into acceptable standardization in the target language. The Translation of Satire The story of Things Fall Apart, like George Orwell’s Animal Farm can, to some extent, be said to be a satire depicting the futility and the foolishness of fighting against a more formidable foe. However, for the purpose of this research work we have only picked out isolated instances of humour that we consider to be satirical. a. Each group there represents a debt to someone, and each stroke is one hundred cowries. You see, I owe that man a thousand cowries. But he has not come to wake me up in the morning IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 10 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart for it. I shall pay you, but not today. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. I shall pay my big debts first (pg. 6). Chacun de ces groupes représente une dette envers quelqu’un, et chaque trait cent cauris. Vous voyez, je dois mille cauris à cet homme. Mais il n’est pas venu me réveiller le matin à leur sujet. Je vous paieri, mais pas aujourd’hui. Nos anciens disent que le soleil brillera sur ceux qui sont debout avant de briller sur ceux qui sont à genoux au dessous d’eux. Je paierai mes grosses dettes d’abord (p. 14). We find this humour in the instance when Unoka’s friend, Okoye, came to ask for his debt from Unoka. Instead of pleading for more time to raise the money, Unoka burst into laughter. He laughed so much that tears stood in his eyes. Okoye, the creditor, was amazed. Then Unoka showed him some lines he had drawn on the wall of his hut with chalk and addressed his creditor friend in the text we have just cited. In fact, Okoye’s reaction to this effrontery is even more humorous: b. Okoye rolled his goatskin and departed ( pg 6). Okoye roula sa peau de chèvre et partit (p. 14) In this text, we see how Unoka, the debtor, succeeds in ridiculing his creditor in an amusing way. The crown of the satire here is the quiet, resigned and calm acceptance of failure by Okoye as well as his silent departure. The term “goatskin” would seem to be untranslatable into a culture that has had no experience of goatskin mats. A language may contain expressions which refer to things and concepts that do not exist in another language, as is the case here. Translation between languages draws on the same procedures that are used intralingually and intersemiotically. Thus we see that Ligny has translated “goatskin” as “peau de chèvre” in the manner that makes the reader understand that the object is a kind of mat for sitting down. The words “rolled up” rendered as “roula” clears up any ambiguity that would have arisen vis-à-vis “goatskin” in the target language. The satire in the source language has been adequately translated into the target language. a. The Oracle said to him: “Your dead father wants you to sacrifice a goat to him”. Do you know what he told the Oracle? He said, “Ask my dead father if he ever had a fowl when he was alive”. L’Oracle lui dit: “votre père défunt désire que vous lui sacrifiez une chèvre”. Savez-vous ce qu’il répondità l’Oracle? Il lui dit: “Demandez à mon père défunt s’il a jamaiseu un poulet à lui quand il était en vie”. The satire here is knee-deep. Obiako, the subject of the discussion here, has not just ridiculed his dead father who was poor. He has also ridiculed the Oracle by talking back to the Oracle, a feat no mortal in Umuofia had ever attempted. Ligny has translated the humour here including the derisive undertone into the target language. b. On a moonlight night it would be different. The happy voices of children playing in open fields would then be heard. And perhaps those not so young would be playing in pairs in less open places… (pg. 7). IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 11 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Par une nuit de clair de lune, c’auraitété différent. On entendait alors les voix heureuses d’enfants jouant en plein champ. Et peut-être les moins jeunes jouaient-ils deux par deux dans des lieux moins ouverts… In ‘d’ Achebe is insinuating that even in the village setting, there is illicit romance. In fact, the phrases “those not so young”, “playing in pairs”, “in less open places” are pregnant with satirical humour. Ligny has captured the spirit of this satire in rendering them as “les moins jeunes” “jouaient-ils deux par deux” and “dans des lieux moins ouverts” respectively. In fact, Ligny had the choice of translating “in pairs” as “en paires” but he opted for “deux par deux” which is more suggestive than “en paires”. It is the suggestiveness of Achebe’s context and choice of words that harbour the humour here. Chinua Achebe, like most African writers, adapts the use of English with vigour and freshness, keeping within the English language and at the same time capturing the idioms and nuances of his own indigenous language. In his translation, Ligny can be said to have paid special attention to the nuances in the source language and has therefore chosen appropriate equivalents. c. “Two years ago” continued Odukwe, “when she was pregnant, he beat her until she miscarried”. “It is a lie. She miscarried after she had gone to sleep with her lover”. “Uzowulu’s body, I salute you” said Evil Forest, silencing him. What kind of lover sleeps with a pregnant woman” (pg. 65). - Il y a deux ans, continua Odukwe, alors qu’elle était enceinte, il l’a battue au point qu’elle a fait une fausse couche. - C’est un mensonge. Elle a fait une fausse couche après avoir couché avec son amant. - Corps d’Uzowulu, je vous salue, dit Forêt Maudite en le laissant taire. Quelle sorte d’amant couche avec une femme enceinte? (p. 112). This is the context in which the dreaded masquerades of Umuofia who judge cases, among other duties, are judging the case of Uzowulu, the wife-beater. The scene is the village square with the whole villagers present. The somber atmosphere and the expectant and exciting attitude of the crowd are reflected in the manner of address by the awe-inspiring judge, Evil Forest. Spirits do not address humans by their names. Evil forest cuts Uzowulu short as he was testifying, he then salutes him, giving the impression that he agreed with Uzowulu’s testimony only to land him flat with open ridicule as he thunders “what kind of lover sleeps with a pregnant woman?” This is where the satire lies. Evil Forest is calling Uzowulu a liar in public because his lie is so obvious. Our translator has respected this sequence and maintained the atmosphere in his translation as he uses literary translation technique here. d. If I hold her hand She says, “Don’t touch”. If I hold her foot She says, “Don’t touch”. But when I hold her waist beads She pretends not to know” (pg 83). Si je lui tiens la main Elle dit: ne me touche pas. Si je lui tiens le pied Elle dit: ne me touche pas. Mais quand je tiens sa ceinture de perles, IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 12 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Elle feint de l’ignorer. Apart from the satire in the song, the musicality of repetitions in the song gives it aesthetic beauty which evokes excitement in the reader. Ligny displays his bilingual proficiency and bi-cultural competence in translating “la main”, “le pied” and “ceinture de perles” which makes the target reader to be inspired, touched and aesthetically entertained in the same manner as the source language reader. Ligny’s translation of linguistic items “if I hold…”, “if I hold…” as “si je tiens…”, “si je tiens” is an indication of his high literary insight and aesthetic sensitivity of Achebe’s oral poetry. The caricature of women’s pretence when it comes to romantic situations is where the satire lies. This caricature, the derision as well as the aesthetic quality of the song have been properly translated into the target language. e. “Do you know that men are sometimes banished for life? Do you know that men sometimes lose all their yams and even their children? I had six wives once. I have none now except that young girl who knows not her right from her left…”(pg 95). Sais-tu qu’il y a parfois des hommes qui sont bannis pour la vie? Sais-tu qu’il y a parfois des hommes qui perdent toutes leurs ignames et même leurs enfants? Il fut un temps où j’avais six femmes. Je n’en ai aucune maintenant sauf cette jeune fille qui ne sait pas distinguer sa droite de sa gauche… (p 164). Here, the speaker, old Uchendu, Okonkwo’s Uncle, under whose roof Okonkwo is sheltering on his exile, is trying to pull his nephew out of the deep depression he has fallen into as a result of his misfortunes. This is the purpose of this family meeting he has summoned. Yet, in his speech he makes allusion to the irresponsible nature and immaturity of his young wife. This derogatory remark in passing makes the young wife look ridiculous. The solemn tone heightened by the repetition of “do you know that” “do you know that”, which Ligny has rendered as “sais-tu qu’il y a” “sais-tu qu’il y a”, and the same grave tone with which Uchendu ridicules his wife in the presence of others, wreaks of satire. This subtle insult is also noticeable in Ligny’s translation into French. f. “They want a piece of land to build their shrine”; said Uchendu to his peers…“We shall give them a piece of land”. He paused and there was a murmur of surprise and disagreement. “Let us give them a portion of the Evil Forest. They boast about victory over death. Let us give them a real battlefield in which to show their victory”. They laughed and agreed, and sent for the missionaries. They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as they cared to take. And to their amazement the missionaries thanked them and burst into song (pg. 105). - “Ils désirent une pièce de terre pour batir leur sanctuaire, dit Uchendu à ses pairs… Nous allons leur donner une pièce de terre”. Il fit une pause et il y eut un murmure de surprise et de désaccord. “Donnons leur un morceau de la Forêt Maudite. Ils se vantent de remporter la victoire sur la mort. Donnons-leur un vrai champ de bataille où ils puissent montrer leur victoire”. Ils rirent et acquiescèrent et envoyèrent chercher les missionnaires… ils leur offrirent une aussi grande portion de la Forêt Maudite qu’ils voulurent en prendre. Et à leur plus grande consternation les missionaires les remercièrent et entonnèrent une cantique (p. 180). IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 13 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart The satire in this exchange is deep. It goes beyond comedy. Comedy, according to Abrams (2005:285), evokes laughter mainly as an end in itself, whereas satire derides. That is to say satire uses laughter as a weapon of scorn, contempt and amusement. The suggestion of offering the dreaded and eerie Evil Forest to the missionaries evokes laughter but it is aimed primarily at deriding the white missionaries who are ignorant of the significance of the Evil Forest. On the other hand, the villagers are on the receiving end of this satire because they, too, are ignorant of the powers of the white man’s God. Also, Achebe’s use of repetition of “a piece of land” adds poetic quality to the piece of writing here. Although, Ligny has translated both the satire and the poetic repetitions we are of the opinion, as we remarked earlier, that “la Forêt du Mal” would have been a better equivalent for “Evil Forest”. “Mal” carries more weight than “maudite” which could mean “damned” or “cursed”. “Mal”, which literally means “Evil” evokes fear, the macabre, and even death, which is more in line with the context of the scene. The Translation of Scatology a. “Who will drink the dregs?” He asked. “Whoever has a job in hand”, said Idigo, looking at Nwakibie’s elder son, Igwelo, with a mischievous twinklein his eye (pg. 15). “Qui boira la lie?” demanda-t-il “Quiconque a une affaire en train” dit Idigo en faisant Igwelo, le fils aîné de Nwakibie, un clin d’oeil malicieux (p. 30). In ‘a’, Igwelo, the victim of this humour, has just married a new wife. The thick dregs of palm-wine, according to Achebe in the story, is believed to increase a man’s libido. What the speaker implies here is that Igwelo needs to impress his new wife with his sexual prowess. In polite African societies, sexual intercourse is generally not talked about openly yet it is humorously discussed here among the drinking men. Ligny in his translation carries this humour into the target language. b. “If, on the other hand, Uzowulu should recover from his madness and come in the proper way to beg his wife to return she will do so on the understanding that if he ever beats her again we shall cut off his genitals for him”. The crowd roared with laughter (pg. 65). “Si, d’autre part, Uzowulu devait guérir de sa folie et venir selon les règles supplier sa femme de revenir, elle le ferait, étant bien entendu que, si jamais il la battait de nouveau, nous lui couperions les parties génitales”. Un énorme éclat de rire montade la foule. We see scatology at work here again. Except in the classroom environment, genitals are generally a topic reserved for adults. Women and young people, if they must discuss these parts of the body, do so in hushed voices. The scene here is the village square where the masquerades are judging cases with the whole village agog with excitement. Nevertheless, we see Odukwe, whose sister married Uzowulu and who receives beatings all the time from the husband, shouting this threat, in anger, about his inlaw’s genitals in the village square, with women and children present, ridiculing Uzowulu’s manhood to the general amusement of the crowd. We need to commend Ligny’s translation of certain meanings here. By translating “in the proper way” as “selon les règles” he applies the technique called “modulation”. IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 14 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Modulation, according to Vinay and Darbelnet (1958), is a variation in the message whose purpose is to make the message clearer in the target language. “Selon les règles” aptly translates the meaning embedded in “in the proper way”, which suggests that there are laid down rules according to the customs and tradition of Umuofia to settle such matrimonial matters. c. “We had meant to set out from my house before cock-crow”, said Obierika. But Nweke did not appear until it was quite light. Never make an early morning appointment with a man who has just married a new wife”. They all laughed (pg 99) -“Nous avions décidé de quitter la maison avant le chant du coq”, dit Obierika. “Mais Nweke n’est pas apparu avant qu’il ne fasse complètement jour. Il ne faut jamais donner de rendezvous à l’aube à un homme qui vient juste d’épouser une nouvelle femme”. Tous rirent (p. 171). We encounter scatology here again when Obierika and two others, came to visit Okonkwo in exile. We see how they joke about sexual intercourse freely and openly here. Michel Ligny rendered this scatology into French adequately. d. “Your buttocks said he had a son” said the joker. “So he must have a wife and all of them must have buttocks” (pg 103). “Vos fesses ont dit qu’il avait un fils”, ditle plaisantin. “Il doit donc avoir une femme et eux tous doivent avoir des fesses (p. 177). This is the scene when the white missionary is addressing the villagers through an interpreter. The interpreter unfortunately, speaks a strange dialect which changes the meanings of certain words by his intonation. Instead of saying “myself” he was saying “my buttocks” which caused a lot of laughter among the listeners. Buttocks, as we know, are among the parts of the body not usually talked about in polite African societies. Furthermore, the missionary, in the context, is talking about God and his only begotten son. The joker here not only picks on the interpreter’s dialect, he goes further to insinuate that God has a wife and they too have buttocks. This is highly humorous and atrocious. The humour here has a satirical undertone because the speaker, by his choice of words, is insinuating that the white missionary is talking from the two sides of his mouth. First, he said God had a son, then he failed to say anything about the mother of the said son. Ligny has translated the text word for word and has therefore captured every hidden nuance and humour. The Translation of Accidental Humour Even though jokes, satires and scatology abound in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, we have just two instances of accidental humour in the text. Here they are: a. These court messengers were greatly hated in Umuofia because they were foreigners and also arrogant and high-handed. They were called ‘kotma’, and because of their ash-coloured shorts they earned the additional name of Ashy-Buttocks (pg. 123). Ces messagers de la cour étaient profondément hais à Umuofia parce qu’ils étaient étrangers en même temps qu’arrogants et brutaux. On les appelait ‘kotma’, et à cause de leurs short couleur de cendre, ils méritèrent le nom supplémentaire de Fesses-Cendrées (p. 211). ‘Kotma’ is an accidental humour derived from the wrong pronunciation of the words ‘court messenger’ by the illiterate villagers. “Ashy-Buttocks”, as Achebe himself has already IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 15 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart explained, stems from the colour of the shorts worn by these court messengers. And then we have: Kotma of the ash buttocks He is fit to be a slave. The white man has no sense He is fit to be a slave (pg 123). Kotma aux fesses de cendres, Il est bon pour faire un esclave. L’homme blanc n’a pas de bon sens, Il est bon pour faire un esclave (p. 211). The textemic use of ‘kotma’ in a song of derision, as used in the source language text and correspondingly translated by Ligny, serves to introduce ridicule of the court messengers. The heavy mockery in the source text is cleverly transferred into the target language, together with the rhythm of the song. b. Many people laughed at his dialect and the way he used words strangely. Instead of saying ‘myself’ he always said ‘my buttocks’ (pg 102). Beaucoup riaient de son dialecte et de la façon bizarre dont il utilisait les mots. Au lieu de dire ‘moi-même’ il disait toujours ‘mes fesses’ (p 174). The humour here is purely accidental because if the man’s (the interpreter’s) dialect had been the same as that spoken by the villagers of Umuofia, there would not have been anything humorous in the context. The fact that what he said in his strange dialect meant ‘my buttocks’ also puts this humour under scatology. Ligny, again, has translated the text literally, thus keeping the target reader aesthetically entertained in the same manner and to the same degree as the reader of the original text. It is true that many readers of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart will always remember Ikemefuna and his gruesome murder by the man he called ‘my father’. Okonkwo’s ultimate suicide also lends a heavy and sinister atmosphere of tragedy to the end of the novel. Nevertheless, one cannot but admit that at many instances the readers found themselves bursting into loud laughter in spite of the seriousness of the general tone of the story. This is what makes the story very interesting. Conclusion This paper has been an attempt to examine Michel Ligny’s fidelity in his translation of humour in Things Fall Apart. This study found that a translator can successfully translate a text, whose origin is different from that of the translator, if such a translator adopts the Interpretive theory, and that in literary translation, one does not translate just the ideas but also the culture of the source text. Translating the ideas poses no great challenges most of the time. It is the translation of the cultural elements that constitute the bulk of difficulties faced by the translator. The paper concludes that the translator has been able, in many instances, to translate humour in the novel. IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 16 IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH ( ISSN 2811-2466 ) Mary Effiong NYONG (PhD)* https://ijojournals.com/ Volume 07 || Issue 06 || June, 2024 || Fidelity in the Translation of Humour in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart References Abrams, M. H. (2005). A Glossary of Literary Terms. 8th Edition. Boston, USA: Thomson Wadsworth. Achebe, C. (1958). Things Fall Apart. London: Heinmann Achebe, C. (1966). Le monde s’effondre. (Translated by Michel Ligny). Paris : Presence Africaine. Britannica (2024) https://www.britannica.com> Catford, J. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation. London: Oxford University Press. Jackobson, R. O. (1959). On Linguistic Aspects of Translation. New York: Oxford University Press. Katan, D. (1999). Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators. Manchester: St Jerome Publishing. Lederer, M. (1994). La Traduction Aujourd’hui. Paris : Boulevard Saint Germain. ______ Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 1995 Edition. Oxford Language Online 2024 Neubert, A. (1985).“A Test and Translation”. Ubersetzungs Wissenschafttlicte Beitrage. Leipsig: Enzylo Paidie. Neubert, A & Steeve, G. M. (1992). Translation as Test.Kent: Kent State University Press. Nida, E. & Taber, C.R. (1974). The Theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden: E. J. Brille. Nilsen, P. & Nilsen, D. (2000). Encyclopedia of 20th Century American Humour. Phoenix: Oryx Press. Odebunmi, A. & Ogunleye, K. (2003). “The context of humour in Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah” In Oyeleye, L. and Olateju, M. (eds). Readings in Language and Literature. 1st Edition. Ile – Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press Ltd. Ojo-Ade, F. (1989). On Black Culture. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press. Oxford Language Online 2024. Snell-Hornby, M., Honig, H., Kussmaul, P. & Schmidt, P.A. (eds.) (1998): Handbuch Translation. Tubingen: Stauffenburg Verlag. Vincze, K. (2004). “Szovegtipusok es Forditas (Text types and Translation)” Forditastudomany, 6(1), 28-35. Vinay, J. P. & Darbelnet, J. (1977). Stylistique Comparée du Français et de l’anglais: Méthode de Traduction. Paris : Didier. Weinstock, D. & Ramadan, C. (1979). “Symbolic Structure in Things Fall Apart” in Innes, C. L. & Lindfors, B.(Eds)(1979) Critical Perspectives on Chinua Achebe. London: Heinemann. IJO JOURNALS Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 17