The hybrid language and society (Afrikaans-English) of the South African postcolonial writing of Pauline Smith (1882-1959) in Spanish translation : "Anna's marriage / La boda de Ana" (1925)

Abstract

The present article intends to be an explanatory introduction, or translator’s preface, for Spanish-speaking audiences, to the postcolonial South African writer Pauline Smith (1882-1959) and, consequently, to this first translation of mine of one of her short stories, included in her book The Little Karoo (1925), into Spanish: Anna’s Marriage / La boda de Anna. An introduction or preface to the underlying cultural, social, political, linguistic and personal conflicts of a difficult and frequently tormented country and national literature that clearly deserve much more attention provided to them by those said Spanish-speaking audiences. Special emphasis will be devoted to the translation problems posed by the aforementioned difficulties, and to the translation strategies applied to deal with them successfully. The purposeful hybrid language, or original mixture of the Afrikaans and English languages, that Pauline Smith made use of, will be paid extra attention.