Retranslation as a Quest for Acceptability: The Case of Two English Translations of Camara Laye’s L’Enfant noir

Abstract

Every literary translation is part of a transfer dynamic aiming at transmitting the linguistic and sociocultural realities of the source language into the target language to ensure effective intercultural communication. In this regard, the emergence of a retranslation often suggests that the previous translation did not fully achieve its communicative objective, thus requiring a new mediation to address the shortcomings of the previous version. This article presents an in-depth comparative analysis of two English versions of Camara Laye’s iconic novel, L’Enfant noir - The Dark Child and The African Child. The objective is to examine how the rendering of Guinean cultural aspects and African realities motivate the need for retranslation. Drawing on Gideon Toury’s ideas on translation norms, the study evaluates the two works through the lenses of adequacy (conscientious adherence to the norms of the source text) and acceptability (alignment with the aesthetic and linguistic norms of the target culture). Through a rigorous textual analysis of culture-specific elements, such as food, clothing, and terms of politeness, the findings reveal that the retranslation frequently modifies the choices of the first translation in favor of semantic and stylistic refinement. This approach reveals that the retranslator, viewing the text as a product intended to be integrated into the receiving culture, prioritises the sociocultural norms of the Anglophone readership to enhance the work’s readability. Ultimately, the study illustrates that retranslation acts as a constant process of reconfiguring the textual image, aiming for a naturalisation of the text to guarantee its optimal integration within the target cultural system.