Le traducteur rimbaldien: voleur ou voyant ?

English: Translating poetry from French to Afrikaans is not really a new concept in Afrikaans literature. The beginning of the twentieth century (around 1919 / 1920) already saw the publication of translations by Jan Celliers (1865 –1950) of the works of, amongst others, French writers Henri Bordeaux and Prosper Mérimée. Although on a humble scale, this tradition was sustained by poets like Uys Krige, Elizabeth Eybers and many others. Poetry translation is indeed one of the ways in which a foreign language enters the canon of a target language (in this case, Afrikaans) and by which the canon is not only enlarged, but also enriched. In thesearch for Afrikaans translations of the works of the well-known French poet, Arthur Rimbaud (1854 –1891), only one translation of the prose poem “Aube”‘ (Daybreak) could be found. This translation by Uys Krige was already published in 1950. Yet, there are various translations of Rimbaud poems in other languages and the question arose why this was not the case with Afrikaans. Although poetry translation can pose many linguistic and other obstacles, it has a history of success in world literature. Therefore, the stance was taken that it should be poss ible to translate Rimbaud in Afrikaans after all. As a poet during the transition period from mainly Romantism to Symbolism, Rimbaud brought about several innovations inthe French poetry of the time. In this vein, his poetry was sonorous with much synaesthesia:he changed French form and rhythm to such an extent that he made a total transition to prose poetry around 1873. In his own words he wanted to attain a language accessible to all the senses and he considered it only possible if he could be a “voyant” (“seer”). But is it possible for the translator of Rimbaud poems to also be a “voyant” or is he only a “voleur” (“thief”) who steals from the poet? This was the main question that would be investigated empirically in the research. In order to commence the translation of four poems (“Morts de quatre-vingt-douze”, “Ma bohème”, “Voyelles” and “Bonne pensée du matin”) and three prose poems (“L’éclair”, “Matin” en “Aube”), the various poems were contextualised in turn. The context is made up of the biography of the poet and the literary tendencies of the time, amongst other factors. The next step was to analyse and discuss the poems so that the translation could be approached with insight. Each poem presented its unique translation challenges. In this vein, it was not always possible to reproduce French rhythm in the translations, yet it was endeavoured to maintain a fairly regular rhythm. While it was decided to do away with the rhyme scheme, due to its limiting nature, alliteration and assonance were often reconstructed by means of other sounds, but with the aim to recreate the feeling in the French poem. Since these translations constitute a first encounter for Afrikaans speakers with Rimbaud poetry, the poetic contents were recreated as faithfully as possible. The differences between the original poem and the eventual translated poem were also discussed and explained. From this research it became clear that the translator has to make many compromises in order to bring the French poem home in the Afrikaans canon. In his endeavour he is,to a certain extent,a thief: indeed he steals words and techniques from the original poet, but at the same time he is a “voyant” who uses words, sounds and techniques in a creative way to facilitate an easy transition between the source language (French) and the target language (Afrikaans). The conclusion can thus be drawnthat it is indeed possible to translate Rimbaud in Afrikaans and that the translator as “Voleur” and “Voyant” makes a contribution in a creative way to enlarge and enrich the Afrikaans canon.