Humanizing Translation: The Translated Text is as good as the Translator

Abstract

As the world becomes smaller and smaller and people get more interested in knowing and understanding each other deeper, translation continue to solicit greater attention. Everyone has his or her own unique style of presenting information and knowledge. Translation is not just about bilingualism but more a bicultural issue. Moreover, some words used in every language are bound to reflect not just some cultural connotations but also personal beliefs and prejudices. Therefore, Translation implies that the translator has the capacity to enter into the mind, the world, the emotions and the culture of the speakers or writers and express their thought not only parallel to the original, but also acceptable to the target language world. Translators are more of creators of language, ideas and cultures than just consumers of the existing texts. They opt for either foreignization or domestication whenever they meet a cultural gap. This was evident in one of the translation projects of stories originally written in my mother tongue Lulogooli (one of the Luhya dialects), translated to Swahili and later to English. In light of the translation experience in the project, this paper is discussing the human face of the translator amidst the need to remain as loyal as possible to the content of the original text and communicating accurately to the target language group. While reading any translated text, how often do we stop to think about the human behind the translation? Do we consider them as social agents in their own right? As groups with its own interest, attitudes, and identity or power relations. It is important to acknowledge the fact that the translated text is as good as the translator in his/her quest to understand man in different lenses through the expansion and sharing of knowledge and cultures.