Aspects théoriques et pratiques de la traduction en situation de bilinguisme (Cameroon, Canada)

The present study analyses some theoretical and practical problems of translation in the light of the reality of bilingualism. The study is underpinned by two independent hypotheses, namely: (1) that the text to be translated already bears the traces of another language as a result of its author's bilingualism; (2) that the translated text is intended for a public whose variety of language bears the traces of another language as a result of group bilingualism. How do these two parameters impact translation as an operation of semantic transfer (1 st hypothesis)? as a product (2nd hypothesis)? To tackle these questions, the study examines how anglicisms, gallicisms, vernacularisms impact French/English translations in Cameroon and in Canada, two officially bilingual countries. With regards to the first question, the study shows that the translation process will depend on the sociolinguistic background of the translator. If the latter belongs to the same discourse area as the author of the original, he/she will be able to move smoothly from the hybrid forms spotted in the text to their meanings. On the contrary, if he/she is foreign to the discourse area of the author, he/she may have to rely on the competence of another speaker to grasp the meaning. The translation process will also depend on the characteristics of the foreign elements spotted in the source text. Translation may thus turn out to be (1) a way of disseminating interference (interference is intended and comes from a language that is not involved in the translation process), (2) an activity threatened by the spectre of impossibility (interference is intended and comes from the target language), (3) retranslation (interference is unintended and comes from the target language), (4) a complex exegetic operation (interference is unintended and comes from a language that is not involved in the translation process). When considering translation as a product, the study argues that in a bilingual setting, the requirement to translate idiomatically is generally fraught with ideologies. As a matter of fact, it runs counter to the linguistic attitudes of some speakers of the target language for whom interference is the mark of a distinct linguistic identity. But paradoxically, translating counter-idiomatically also carries an ideological undertone as it helps promote a new variety of language. Thus, the translator working in a bilingual environment always has to steer a delicate course between these two ideologies. In the study, several translation premises and principles are revisited in a well-balanced manner: the mother tongue/foreign language opposition, the status of the original text, the translator's competences, the translation strategies, the ethics of translation etc.