Exploring Yaoundé as a Linguistically Divided Capital City of an English and French Bilingual African Nation

Théodore Dassé

doi:10.18778/2083-2931.15.03

Authors

Théodore Dassé University of Yaoundé I https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4505-6223

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-2931.15.03

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Keywords:

translation, translationality, public space literature, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Abstract

This article examines the place of translation in the public space in Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon, an African nation with a threefold (German, English, and French) colonial heritage. The collected quantitative and qualitative data consisted of public space literature, i.e. outdoor advertising in the streets and other urban spaces where francophone and anglophone communities interact. Data analysis combined with the theory of translationality proposed by Sherry Simon in 2014 and 2021 revealed that Yaoundé is not a dynamic translation zone, because the translational activity in this urban space is minimal. Instead, Yaoundé is almost distinctively monolingual in French and English, and quasi-untranslated. This quasi-absence of translation-mediated contact between the communities makes Yaoundé a linguistically divided city, where French-speaking and English-speaking citizens live in juxtaposition and co-exist in relative isolation. This adversely impacts the traffic of information and opportunities across linguistic borders.

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Author Biography

Théodore Dassé, University of Yaoundé I

Théodore Dassé is Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Bilingual Studies at the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon. He teaches (English-French) translation and comparative and contrastive studies to undergraduates. His articles in the area of translation and language-related conflicts include “Discourse Approach to Objective Translating and Translation Quality Assessment” (Viceversa. Revista galega de traducción, vol. 16, no. 2, 2010); “Exploring Translation Intuition: A Triangulation Approach” (Translation Quarterly, vol. 57, no. 3, 2010); “Them versus Us: Bridging the Ideological Gap between English- and French-speaking Communities in Cameroon” (Crossing Linguistic Borders in Post-colonial Anglophone Africa, edited by Valentine N. Ubanako and Jemima Asabea Anderson, Cambridge Scholars, 2015); “Official Language Bilingualism, Patriotism, and National Unity in Cameroon” (Official Language Bilingualism in Cameroon: Current Insights and Dynamics, edited by George Echu, L’Harmattan, 2023).

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