Remodelling Institutional Translation. An African Perspective

The combination of ethnolinguistic fragmentation, the use of European languages as official languages and low literacy rates make institutional translation indispensable in Africa. Africa literally lives by translation. However, recent studies have highlighted the paradox of (institutional) translation in Africa: no continent needs institutional translation more than Africa and yet no continent translates less than Africa. This paper argues that deficit is not the only problem with institutional translation in Africa. In addition to the inadequacy of institutional translation, its practice model is both Eurocentric and institution-centred, and therefore not suited to the specificities of Africa. A number of principles are advanced that altogether constitute an alternative practice model of institutional translation for Africa.