Waarom muggenzifterij geen muggiesiftery is: recente Afrikaanse werken in Nederlandse vertaling

Abstract

Afrikaans and Dutch are two closely related languages. However, it is not evident for a speaker of Dutch to read and understand Afrikaans without any problems. For this reason it is necessary to translate Afrikaans literary works into Dutch. Quite a few Afrikaans books have been translated. What is the quality of these translations? A detailed analysis of three translations namely of Relaas van ‘n moord and Verweerskrif by Antjie Krog and of Niggie by Ingrid Winterbach shows that the translations into Dutch leave much to be desired. Inaccuracies and mistakes are common and the cultural and geographic terminology is dealt with unsatisfactorily. The original Afrikaans text should be treated with more consistency and greater meticulousness in order to ensure that the loss of meaning, which is inevitable in any translation, remains at an acceptable level.