Research Articles (Linguistics and Language Practice)
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Item Open Access A long walk to freedom: charting a way for doing comparative translation studies in Africa(University of Stellenbosch, 2021) Marais, Kobusn recognition of the work that Ilse Feinauer has done for the development of translation studies in Africa, this paper considers the position of translation studies on the continent. It proposes a comparative approach to translation studies on the continent to counter the two extremes of universalism and provincialism in the field of study. After considering some of the epistemological problems that translation studies faces in Africa, the paper suggests that a complex adaptive systems approach linked to a semiotic conceptualisation of translation allows for this kind of comparative approach. The paper concludes with some suggestions about the nature of comparative work in translation studies.Item Open Access Applied linguistics beyond postmodernism(University of the Free State, 2013) Weideman, AlbertApplied linguistics clearly has modernist roots, which have steadily been eroded by postmodernist views. Opposites, such as quantitative and qualitative, or positivist and postpositivist, are often used to characterise this intellectual conflict. The current ascendancy of a potentially modernist paradigm, a dynamic or complex systems approach, will be noteworthy for drawing our attention to at least two complex linguistic ideas that have not adequately been analysed in linguistic theory. A foundational, philosophical analysis of such trends, as attempted in this article, should adopt a fittingly humble stance. That kind of humility, however, also applies across paradigms: the arrival of a new paradigm in the field is a timely reminder that enduring domination of a single paradigm in any discipline remains unlikely.Item Open Access Contextualising ethics in the practice of translator education: the case of the indigenous value system of the Basotho(University of the Free State, 2012) Marais, KobusEnglish: This article develops the suggestions made in recent publications on translation studies concerning the role of the translator as an agent. The article discusses agency as a central theme in translation, and points out that it is not a value unto itself, but that it must be conceptualised within a value system. This value system, it is contended, is inculcated during the years of study at tertiary institutions. This suggests that the value system must be incorporated into the curriculum, the choice of which is left in the hands of the lecturer. Following the lead of Tymoczko, who argued for the internationalisation of translation studies, the indigenous Basotho value system and the concept of ubuntu, with its concomitant values, are explored as values that may be of interest to translation studies. If the study of translation is to be contextualised, so does ethics in translator education. The article reconsiders the implications of critical studies for ethics, arguing that it creates an impasse for human ethical action. As a value system that nurtures society and individuality, ubuntu may be a valuable alternative.