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Translation and National Integration

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S TEPHANIE E NGOLA

Translation and National Integration

Promoting Peace and Unity through Literary Translation

1 Introduction

National integration and national unity are two recurrent issues in a multicul-
tural and multilingual context. Benedict Anderson posits that “a nation is an
imagined political community – and imagined as both inherently limited and
sovereign” (1983: 6). It is imagined because not all members know each other
yet feel that they have things in common […]” (Op cit.). And it is a communi-
ty, because it implies comradeship and a sense of belonging. These concepts
call for another, which is more recurrent in the field of literary translation,
notably national integration. It coincides with national integration, culture,
social harmony, literature, cultural systems, and the conception which com-
munities have of their own world and that of other people.
National integration is a process, whereby people reach a state of positive
assimilation so as to create unity. For it to be effective and efficient, national
integration should be supported by social dialog, tolerance, cohabitation, in-
tercultural communication, and social harmony. In other words, alterity is one
of the main issues in national integration: people are conscious of their differ-
ences, learn to live together, endeavor to import the positive components of
other cultures, and afford each other due respect. With time, uncertainty,
which jeopardizes intercultural communication, gradually vanishes and gives
room to a new common culture (Ting-Toomey 1988) that is mutual under-
standing and strengthens national integration. But how is this national integra-
tion created? What are the social mechanisms put in place to promote national
integration? What is the most efficient mechanism able to succeed in achieving
positive national integration?

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Stephanie Engola

According to Anderson (1983: 44), language and literature were the most
effective means to foster national integration in the medieval period. He ar-
gues that

Speakers of the huge variety of Frenches, Englishes, or Spanishes, who

might find it difficult or even impossible to understand one another in
conversation, became capable of comprehending one another via print
and paper. In the process, they gradually became aware of the hundreds
of thousands, even millions, of people in their particular language-field,
and at the same time that only those hundreds of thousands, or millions,
so belonged. These fellow-readers, to whom they were connected
through print, formed, in their secular, particular, visible invisibility, the
embryo of the nationally imagined community.

Indeed, one cannot deny that most French writers of the Middle Age argued
that literature was an important lever of national integration. Hampton (2001)
demonstrates how literary texts reflect ideological conflicts. In the same line,
Keller (2011) strongly believes that literature is a common representation of
things, which leads to the feeling of belonging. Desbois also argues that “La
Deffence de Du Bellay illustre le rôle de la langue dans la construction du
sentiment national, E. Babilar ayant à ce propos insisté sur l’idée que les
peuples, pour former une nation, ont besoin de partager une même langue”
(Desbois 2011: 3). Compared to the Greek and Latin languages, the French
language established its identity through translation. This process led to the
imposition of the French language and nation in a globalizing Europe and was
the beginning of extensive literature and the benchmark for the construction
of French rhetoric. The peak of this evolving national integration was the pub-
lication of the first Encyclopedia of science, art and crafts by Diderot and
d’Alembert in 1751, though at first, it was a draft translation of the Cyclopedia
of Ephraim Chambers published in 1728. The case of France to illustrate the
historical process through which a nation builds its identity is somewhat simi-
lar to that of Cameroon in terms of external linguistic pressures that usually
force a configuration of national languages and the imposition of one in par-
ticular as the language of unity.
Unlike France, Cameroon has diversified its mechanisms to ensure an in-
ter-ethnically harmonious setting and to build national integration. With a

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 Translation and National Integration

plethora of national languages and ethnic groups, the management of institu-

tions and people becomes a game of strategies. While literary translation
among national languages is almost nonexistent, one of the most praised solu-
tions to national integration is regional balance in appointments, examination
entrances in schools, recruitments, etc. However, the regional balance, which
has become a leitmotiv in political discourses, hardly appeases the self-
propagating consequences of the quest for peace and national integration
(Kampoer 2011). At the beginning, i.e. from the colonial period, regional bal-
ance has been instituted to satisfy the demands of all ethnic groups on the
Cameroonian territory. It was a way of encouraging a policy that protects mi-
norities. Nowadays, national integration is justified by representativeness.
Besides, Cameroonians seem to respond superficially positively to this socio-
logical and political measure. Social conflicts are still part of national life. The
Anglophone and Francophone issue is more than a linguistic issue. Both par-
ties call it the Anglophone-Francophone problem. In order to contribute to the
project of national integration in Cameroon, this paper proposes the use of
literary translation as a tool for achieving this goal.

1.1 Theoretical framework

The investigation shall use the constructivist approach in historiography,
which purports that the society is the product of a construction. According to
Gellner (1998), societies build on interactions between people within a com-
munity or an ethnic group. The constructivist approach is opposed to the
naturalist and the primordialist approach of ethnicity that make the genetic
aspect accountable for the social integration of groups. In case of ethnicity, the
feeling of belonging is based on origins, whereas anthropological items and the
fight are limited to the causes of the ethnic group. It validates the idea of ex-
cluding other groups even within the same territory. This idea also applies
when groups share the same historical events at a national level. Though the
limit between constructivism and the rational choice theory of ethnicity is
narrow (individuals can choose to be regarded as members of a group if they
find it to their advantage), in the view of experts in anthropology such as Hall
(1996), the idea that ethnic groups are social productions can be retained as
specificity in constructivism. Moreover, the features of these groups are no

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Stephanie Engola

more defined according to elements of nature (genetics), but rather based on

culture as an endogen process.
Indeed, people may be of the same genetic family, but do not feel they be-
long to one and the same group. However, people who share the same ideas
and ideological patterns may be closer to each other in terms of beliefs,
worldview, etc. This does not exclude that genetic relations may involve a sense
of belonging as far as ideas and culture are concerned. The issue of ethnic
groups in Africa is a patent example of the opposition between the naturalist
and the constructivist approach. From an administrative point of view, Came-
roon is a territory that shares borders with Gabon, the Central African Repub-
lic and Equatorial Guinea. From a cultural point of view, some ethnic groups
share a heritage with groups and communities in Cameroon. The Fang-Beti
group is spread throughout the border regions with Gabon, Equatorial Guinea
and the Central African Republic, and people on either side feel close to Cam-
eroonians. This proximity is well justified by historical data, which clearly
indicates that all the ethnic groups at the borders of all three countries are
members of the same group that spread all over central Africa before the arri-
val of colonizers. However, when it comes to the political point of view, the
feeling of belonging changes the apprehension of the relationships. One of the
main consequences of this separation is the fate of Cameroonian in some of
the countries, notably Equatorial Guinea`, where they are treated as foreigners
and imposters due to their individualistic appraisal of life. This shows that
although societies in Central Africa share the same genetical, historical and
cultural lot, the geographical reorganization of groups into countries has en-
couraged the formation of societies based on political perspectives of coloniza-
tion.
Besides, when considering with Gudykunst (1998) that the real problem
with intercultural communication is the uncertainty zone where the speaker is
in a new and different milieu, the issue of culture becomes important in the
chain of communication. In his communication model, components such as
the motivation to interact, the reaction in front of foreigners, the social catego-
rization of foreigners, situational processes, connections with foreigners, ethi-
cal considerations, and self-concept usually influence the way people manage
uncertainty and anxiety in a communication situation. The success of this
management depends on the reflexivity of a person to understand his own
culture and that of others. The negotiation in the uncertainty sector is thus an

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 Translation and National Integration

important step in the social integration of a person whose culture, in its broad-
est sense, is different from the culture(s) in a given historical, ethical, geo-
graphical and cultural setting.
This understanding of intercultural communication is deepened by Ting-
Toomey (1988). She underlines that the intercultural communication can only
be considered efficient if both the speaker and the receptor negotiate a com-
mon signifier. Of course, the communication capacity of a person depends on
individual psychology and the nature of his/her original culture. As a matter of
fact, she distinguishes two types of cultural groups: individualist and collectiv-
ist groups. When a person comes from an individualistic culture, he/she tends
to preserve his/her own image to the detriment of the group and vice-versa.
Whatever the case, it appears that both perspectives seriously influence the
outcome of the communication process. The sociological appraisal of literature
in Cameroon will thus show that national integration in Cameroon is ensured
by political mechanisms, whereas the lack of intercultural communication
through literary instruments postpones a much bigger social clash in the years
ahead.

2 Methodology

This paper uses statistical figures to analyze the importance of translation in

general and literary translation in particular in Cameroon. It compares figures
from the European world, Africa in general, and Cameroon in particular to
assess the commitment of the government in the cultural development of the
country while focusing on the implementation of an intercultural communica-
tion between the various ethnic groups represented in the territory. Moreover,
since this research fundamentally focuses on an interdisciplinary perspective,
it also draws from sociological and empirical writings on connected issues,
such as the power of the ethnic group, political instruments, and historical
data.

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Stephanie Engola

3 The problematic linguistic and ethnic situation in Cameroon

Cameroon is a complex linguistic setting. Apart from the two official lan-
guages, French and English, there are numerous national languages collocating
with two other composed languages: Pidgin-English and Camfranglais. Offi-
cial languages are spoken in formal settings, namely administrations, schools,
and universities. The 226 national languages1 are reserved for informal situa-
tions, though sometimes used informally in public services. Pidgin-English is
used in the Western parts of the country, whereas Camfranglais is spoken by
youths in all ten regions. At first glance, one may consider this to be a wonder-
ful linguistic landscape. But, once in the field, the contrary becomes strikingly
evident. Indeed, the relations between all those languages are limited in terms
of the spoken aspect. It answers the need for social interaction. For example,
there are public servants from the Francophone zone who are appointed in the
Anglophone zone. To be able to develop a social life, they need to learn the
language spoken in that area. However, as the learning is informal, so is the
acquisition of language rules.
The current linguistic configuration of Cameroon suggests a complex net-
work of intercultural communication. Language is the means through which
culture expresses itself. Thus, both language and culture are interdependent in
the sense that language is the social expression of values, norms and attitudes,
while culture is the invisible part of the behaviorist iceberg that underlies lan-
guage (Selfridge/Sokolik 1975). It is difficult, if not impossible to talk of a
situation whereby there is a universal culture and co-cultures in Cameroon.
From the anthropological point of view, national languages have the same
status and the same value when considering the attitude of speakers all over
the territory. Though the number of speakers of a national language may vary
from one region to another, the attitude of speakers shows that there is no
ideologically dominant language. Even though five national languages have
been selected among the bulk of national languages for teaching within the
framework of policy for the promotion of national languages, this does not

............................................
1 These figures are derived from the International Center for Research and Documentation on
Traditions and African Languages (2012), Linguistic Atlas of Cameroon, Language directory,
tome 1.

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 Translation and National Integration

relegate other national languages to a less important layer of the discourse

scale.

4 Language use and national integration in Cameroon

It is difficult to speak of national literature without raising the issue of national

identity. Similarly, the definition of the latter cannot go without that of nation-
al unity. These three concepts are interrelated and intertwined in one way or
another. National unity is the solidarity that exists between individuals of the
same nation. In Cameroon, language is one of the most important elements
that determine national integration as stated in the Preamble of the 1996 Con-
stitution:

Proud of our linguistic and cultural diversity, an enriching feature of our

national integration, but profoundly aware of the imperative need to
further consolidate our unity, we solemnly declare that we constitute
one and the same Nation, bound by the same destiny, and assert our
firm, determination to build the Cameroonian Fatherland on the basis
of the ideals of fraternity, justice and progress. (Constitution of the Re-
public of Cameroon 1996: 1)

In this light, the government regularly makes efforts to promote language

through a number of reforms. They include language reform, the promotion of
national languages, their equal status and ethnic balance.
However, at the political level, the difficulties faced by the Government in the
implementation of the unity and national integration stated in the Constitution
remain the same, because solutions are more political than cultural. This is why
scholars like Nyamnjoh still doubt its effectiveness when observing that

the system produces trouble-makers, and this includes promoting inter-

provincial or inter-ethnic conflicts, which the central government regu-
lates and crushes from time to time when things get a little out of hand.
The system is interested in nation-deconstruction, not nation-building,
national disunity, not national unity, disintegration, not integration.
(Nyamnjoh 1999: 9).

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Stephanie Engola

This disunity is caused by a retreat into groups of interest, especially political

and ethnic groups. It threatens peace in a nation whose government has estab-
lished a regional balance policy so that all language and cultural groups are
represented. This retreat leads to the birth of regional, tribal and linguistic
trench warfare, which mars national integration, defined as the willingness of
an imagined community to live together without discrimination.
Focusing on the origin of nationalism in Cameroon, Abwa (2010) under-
lines the fact that the country’s diversity helped the people to question national
unity. Ruled by three countries, namely Germany, France and Britain prior to
its independence, Cameroon is known for its climate, rich and varied fauna
and its hundreds of national languages and sociocultural groups. The interest
in its human resources is raised by its ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity as
well as the racial melting pot consisting of Pygmies, Bantu, Sudanese, and
Hamito-Sudanese groups. Cultural groups interact in all the fields. Yet, the
group identity prevails. Paul Abouna (2011) shows that the concept of group is
rather tribal and is manifested through the way groups occupy the space, me-
dia and churches. Group identity underlies the relationship among people of
the same origin. This ethnicisation has reached the church to the extent that
the administration of churches has become the cause of ethnic conflicts. The
media broadcast a tribal reading of political information and the administra-
tion of newspapers is made around ethnic leadership. Furthermore, this con-
figuration impacts on the power relationship at the level of politics and diplo-
macy as Abouna (2011: 77) explains:

L’une des conséquences nécessaires de la configuration ethnique des

partis camerounais est l’ethnicisation des revendications politiques.
Elles sont apparues ces dernières années sous la forme de mémoranda
ou de documents écrits divers, mettant en relief les problèmes non pas
de classes sociales, des classes d’âges, des catégories socio profession-
nelles, des genres, etc., mais des régions et des ethnies qui y vivent.

National integration as promoted in Cameroon is based on multiple group

identities, and Nyamnjoh (1999: 8) highlights the negative consequence of the
policy of regional balance:

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 Translation and National Integration

Take the Anglophone community as a case in point. Objectively speak-

ing, they have a far greater interest in uniting their two provinces than
pulling them apart. But in the interest of the politics of regional balance
(divide-and-rule) in high office, no person can be appointed from the
Anglophone region, without another being dis-appointed from the same
region. This makes it incumbent on power-mongers or opportunistic
politicians in the two provinces to imagine divisions among themselves
in order to increase their chances of prominence or appointability.

However, one should keep in mind that the root of the age-old Anglophone
and Francophone problem is language. Therefore, the question that arises is
whether or not there is a real national literature. The names Francophone and
Anglophone Cameroon literature speak for themselves. But is it really possible
to have a Cameroonian literature that includes two sub-categories of literature
separated by their writers’ languages and the topics they address? In an inter-
view with African Writing, Ashuntantang (2016) 2 says:

Cameroonian writers are still described as Anglophone and Franco-

phone based first on the historical context of the country and second by
the themes that each class evokes in their works. There are of course po-
litical and subject differences between these two classes in the sense that
while the overall democratic subject goes through both writings the
specific political considerations of Anglophone marginalization remain
relevant to the discourse of any serious Anglophone writer. Style is not
the issue. Maybe mood is. Challenged by a political elite (whether ruling
or opposition), which is insensitive to the goals of democratic develop-
ment and resource allocation, there is unsurprisingly much anger and
bitterness from the writers.

In other words, literature has not yet fully succeeded in playing its role in the
building of national integration. Most of the books on the market are translit-
erations of national cultures. Biloa and Echu are more formal when saying that
............................................
2 Interview with Cameroonian writer, George Ngwane, a versatile commentator on African
affairs, Cameroonian politics and literature, and the author of The Cameroon Book Industry –
Challenges and Changes, https://www.african-writing.com/ngwane.htm. The interview has no
page numbers.

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Stephanie Engola

“It is important to point out from the start that in Cameroon, the indigenous
languages of the country have never really played any major role in issues of
national integration, and the critical languages involved in the projection of
major group identities in Cameroon are in fact the ex-colonial languages,
English and French” (2008: 202). Writers use one of the two official languages
and are still classified as being Anglophone or Francophone. None of them is
known for having translated his/her own writings, as was done by Samuel
Beckett. This shows that literature remains an instrument used to claim na-
tional integration rather than a means to build national identity. Although
there is Cameroonian literature, which is defined as a literature written by
Cameroonian writers who tackle issues concerning the Cameroonian society,
its objectives remain a hard nut to crack for those who try to set features of
national Cameroonian literature. Literary works are hardly echoed into the
other official language. This means that this literature continues to serve the
claims of the colonial period. Although more translation schools are set up
throughout the country, authors are seldom translated into the other official
language and great philosophical and literary works have not yet been translat-
ed into national languages. Three reasons explain this state of affairs which
impedes the emergence of a national literature stricto sensu.
The first reason is the incredible number of ethnic groups and languages
competing in the field. With over 235 national languages (Boum Ndongo-
Semengue 2013) and two official languages, Cameroon is a country where
cultural movements imply a blend of languages. National languages are begin-
ning to transcend their geographical areas to compete with other languages in
terms of the number of speakers. These are languages which are widely used
but restricted to informal communication situations. Among those languages
are Fulani, Beti-Fan, Pidgin-English, Basa’a, Duala, Mungaka, Wandala,
Kanuri, Arabic, and Hausa (Boum Ndongo-Semengue, 2013: 31–32). There is
another language, Camfranglais that emerges from the mixture of French,
English and national languages.
It is important to note that the organization of national languages into phy-
la shows their diverse backgrounds. Indeed, Cameroonian national languages
are organized into three phyla which are subdivided into families, subfamilies,
branches, sub-branches, etc. The Afro-Asiatic phylum or Mito-Semitic in-
cludes two families, four branches, 12 sub-groups, and groups of 58 languages
while the Nilo-Saharan phylum has two families. The Niger-Kordofan phylum

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 Translation and National Integration

is the most represented with three families of 188 dialects (Biloa, 2003: 14–18),
although some of them are endangered as demonstrated by Bitja’a Kody
(2000). In a quantitative survey on language dynamics in Yaounde, he noted
that the use of national languages is regressive to within endogamous house-
holds, which represent the strongholds of those languages. He reported that
Francophone adults use their national language in 52% of situations against
42% where they use French. Youth between 10 and 17 argue that they use
French in 70% of family communications. Bitja’a concludes that this situation
will escalate, because the chain of teaching the national language will soon be
broken. In other words, there are languages which are endangered as they are
abandoned by their native speakers who are under the influence of various
social pressures. It goes without saying that the atlas of Cameroon’s national
languages is complex. It is reminiscent of the tower of Babel, whereby people
of different languages try to understand each other while speaking their re-
spective language.
The second obstacle to the emergence of literature in the national language
is the economic aspect. The book industry is a purely commercial and lucra-
tive industry. In this perspective, the book is a product, a commodity for con-
sumption that follows the logic of the market. Therefore, if a market implies
the presence of customers or readers, the lack of interest in books written in
national languages justifies the scarcity or the virtual absence of translations
on the market. This explains the market logic applied by publishers, who re-
quire demand and a loyal readership. Due to its existence at the periphery of
the translation process, this aspect is not discussed in translation studies.
However, its impact on the overall result is great, since translation orders come
from a publisher or an author.
The last reason is a social concern. Trends in translation in the Came-
roonian context show that there is a general movement, a sort of mimicry
underpinned by other economic and political reasons. When one considers the
current practice, there are two parallel pillars. The first revolves around trans-
lation into European languages inherited from colonization. This is the most
important pillar, because translation schools teach in official languages. It
influences, directly or indirectly, the landscape of translation. The second
pillar is a kind of translation which is not really professional, as it is done for
linguistic research. For clarification purposes, researchers sometimes use
translation to explain semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic elements. It is a non-

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Stephanie Engola

profit translation which accompanies activities of literacy and tailoring of

educational resources. All these factors impede the emergence of national
literature and national integration insofar as translation only fulfils a pragmat-
ic-instrumental function, not a literary one.

5 Language reform and translation

It is agreed that differences can be turned into strengths if they are used well.
However, the situation rather tends to promote ethnic group identity, and the
issue of language reform is one result of this misuse of differences. Indeed,
language reform is subject to several reflections in Cameroon. According to
Tabi Manga, a language reform is “le lieu de la détermination des grands choix
en matière de rapports entre les langues et la société. Ce domaine rassemble
toutes les décisions et règlementations à caractère politique touchant la vie des
langues, leur statut et leur mode de fonctionnement social” (Tabi Manga 2000:
7). The language policy of Cameroon tends to favor the official languages and
Bitja’a Kody (2011: 2) questions the achievement of its objective when noting
that

l’obsolescence du système éducatif actuel en matière de langues

d’enseignement ou de langues enseignées se manifeste par l’application
unilatérale de la politique du bilinguisme officiel et la non prise en
compte des langues nationales dont l’enseignement est pourtant instruit
par le Chef de l’État, S.E. Paul Biya, par la Constitution de 1996, et par la
Loi d’Orientation de l’Éducation au Cameroun de 1998.

In the same vein, Onguene-Essono (2013: 18) argues that this language policy
is sometimes timidly implemented at the institutional level, even if instru-
ments have been developed for its effective implementation. The issue of Cam-
eroonian languages remains a central concern, though their impact is already
attested in the economic development of the country. Acknowledging the
crucial role of language in the development of groups, Ngalasso Mwata Mu-
sanji (1981: 281) states that “avoir une politique linguistique, c’est d’abord
prendre conscience que la langue est un fait de culture et un facteur de déve-
loppement économique et social tout à fait primordial […]” and Onguene-

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 Translation and National Integration

Essono (2013: 13) adds that language is a priceless treasure, the loss of which is
a disaster.
At the cultural level, it seems as if there were two separated areas and spe-
cific cultures, namely the Francophone culture and the Anglophone culture.
Although elements of interculturality are numerous, literary works written by
Francophone authors are not translated into English and vice-versa. Moreover,
no great novel has yet been published in a national language, whereas Came-
roon has more than 240 national languages. This situation causes the rejection
of other groups and weakens nationalism advocated by the government
through laws and political speeches. Biya clarifies that

au niveau ethnique, il faut encourager le développement de toutes les

langues nationales, véhicules privilégiés des cultures ethniques […] l’on
ne sera descendu au fond de sa personnalité ethnique que pour en re-
monter avec ce que l’ethnie détient d’excellent et dont la nation entière
doit bénéficier, à travers les langues nationales et les langues officielles.
(Biya 1987: 117)

This assertion shows that national integration is inseparable from interactive

communication and translation. Languages are part of a collective heritage and
should be used for the benefit of all. It is not a matter of a group frustrating
another because it represents a majority. The contribution of translation is
therefore important to establish the necessary bridges among the groups. Its
aim is to induce not only an efficient communication, but also to create the
feeling of belonging through language balance. This is the argument of Ander-
son (1983) when he talks of the concept of a nation from a constructivist ap-
proach. In his opinion, nationalism is a form of collective consciousness that
provides a sense of belonging for a community institutionalized by school and
the army. Some factors facilitate the emergence and the expansion of national
communities. The first factor is printing that manifests itself through media
and the novel. Writing leads to the spreading of ideas that create a sense of
belonging. In a capitalist context, printing

laid the bases for national consciousness […]. First and foremost, they
[print-languages – i.O.] created unified fields of exchange and commu-
nications below Latin and above the spoken vernaculars […]. Second,

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Stephanie Engola

print-capitalism gave a new fixity to language, which in the long run

helped to build that image of antiquity so central to the subjective idea
of the nation. […] Third, print-capitalism created languages of power of
a kind different from the older administrative vernaculars. (Anderson
1983: 44)

Anderson’s model could be beneficial to Cameroon where groups are less

homogeneous than in Europe. The issue of national integration irreversibly
implies the definition of the community and consideration of ethnic bounda-
ries. As the strengthening of national consciousness depends on texts and
writings with which individuals identify to build a common history, the social
fragmentation into distinct cultural groups could be an obstacle to rapidly
form an immediate imaginary community. The written work is therefore de-
signed to establish a national ideology which spreads patriotic values. The
protagonists of historiographical constructivism thus assign an important role
to language and literature, which are responsible for conveying, shaping, and
creating a strong sense of confidence in every individual (Aliana 2017: 156):

La nation a été conçue dans le langage, ce sont aussi l’ensemble des

textes et récits, l’accumulation de documents de toute sorte, qui ont la
charge de dire la fraternité, d’en tracer l’histoire et d’en créer le mythe,
d’en authentifier les racines « naturelles » pour des sociétés neuves res-
tées pourtant fragmentées, « fracturées par les antagonismes de races
(et) de classe.

If the constructivist thesis is limited to classes and races in Europe, it can be

extended to ethnic groups in Cameroon. In fact, most African countries have
not had the opportunity to build national consciousness because the partition
of Africa during colonization depended more on political and economic inter-
ests than on the grouping of people according to their cultural affinities. How-
ever, there is no evidence that this grouping could not allow the formation of
collective consciousness. The existence of borders has been the basis for na-
tionalism, often transcended by the sense of brotherhood.

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 Translation and National Integration

6 Recommendations

The advantage of the constructivist model is that it allows a redefinition of

national integration which takes into account the literary culture. In a multi-
cultural milieu, it also draws attention to translation, one of the greatest vehi-
cles of culture. The content of the novel establishes fraternity among readers
who identify with its characters and themes. The contribution of the novel,
and the press in particular, is beneficial in that they reinforce fraternal links
through narration and mass opinion. For Anderson (1983: 36), “fiction seeps
quietly and continuously into reality, creating that remarkable confidence of
community in anonymity which is the hallmark of modern nations”. Chivallon
(2007) believes that the press plays a similar role. It creates a mass ceremony
between readers who share with other readers they do not see. In this case, the
power of the literary work and the written document is unquestionably a way
that offers the opportunity to maintain peace and stability through the rela-
tionships it establishes – unknowingly – between individuals who may not
know one another. The postmodernist approach could be enriched by another
element. The multitude of national languages that exist in the same area seems
to slow down the ability of states to permanently install nationalism and patri-
otism through collective consciousness. It should be noted that the issue of
national languages implies ethnic divisions that can weaken the nation, while
consolidating ethnic groups that constitute it. Obviously, the problem is more
complex when collective consciousness is preceded by group consciousness
based on the mother tongue. Translation can therefore be ideologically orient-
ed to annihilate those divisions based on misunderstanding and the wrong
manipulation of the instruments used to create national consciousness. It is a
mediation tool that should be applied to literature in order to control political
thoughts and place the various groups in a perpetual situation of dialogue.
According to the online version of Merriam-Webster dictionary (2008), to
mediate means “to act as an intermediary agent in bringing, effecting, or
communicating” or “to reconcile differences.” Each of these definitions applies
to Montoya Arango’s (2010) current conception of translation. In addition to
the fact that he/she bridges two languages, the translator acts as an agent in-
volved in a cross-cultural activity. His/her role is to reconcile parties who do
not understand each other.

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Stephanie Engola

Translation facilitates cultural dialogue without trying to assimilate one

culture to another or cause a language superimposition. The problem of lan-
guage superimposition is that it is a situation whereby there is an ‘inferior’ and
a ‘superior’ language. This leads to a situation of diglossia, where the lesser
used language is dominated by the one that is considered superior. Translation
can then be used as a bridge to balance the representation of writings and
writers within a territory. The contribution of translation in the consolidation
of a genuine national literature is important. It is worth mentioning that Ara-
bic literature owes its power to the proliferation of translations of philosophi-
cal, literary and European scientific works. René Descartes, Jean-Jacques Rous-
seau, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, Jean Baptiste Poquelin, Jean-Paul Sartre,
Guillaume Apollinaire, Paul Claudel, Jacques Prevert, Sain-John Perse, André
Breton, etc., were translated and accepted by the Arab audience. Amongst
other things, this acceptance is due to the fact that the Arab world itself had a
fairly dense and prolific literature.
If it is true that the translator is a cultural mediator, then translation is a
tool than can bridge cultures in order to favor understanding. Multilingualism
and Multi-ethnicity in and of itself are not necessarily an advantage to nations.
Only where understanding and dialogue are possible, can this linguistic and
cultural resource be used productively for the development of a national iden-
tity. Cultural diversity being the key element of a developing country, transla-
tion should review people’s interactions and clear up cultural and linguistic
conflicts.

7 Conclusion

Cameroon is a complex country. With many languages and a long colonial

history, it is striving to maintain peace and be an emergent country by 2035 as
stated in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2010) of Cameroon. However,
social obstacles slow down its development. Translation can promote a mutual
understanding between Francophone and Anglophones on the one hand, and
also between ethnic groups. Regarding the dichotomy Anglophone-Franco-
phone, literary translation can prompt a rapid dissemination of ideas and cul-
tural exchange. It is able to enhance the reading and appreciation of works of
literature written in two different languages. It is proposed here that literary

104 © Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenschaftliche Literatur

 Translation and National Integration

works should be translated into both Cameroonian official languages in order

to efficiently achieve the regional balance promoted by the government. Be-
sides, editors and publishers have their own share of the work. They should
not only help to develop translation as a profession in Cameroon, but they
should also contribute to the development of Cameroon literature. As for na-
tional languages, they also have a role to play in the consolidation of national
integration. Philosophical works should be translated into those languages to
build the foundations of a great nation in the minds of its different groups. In
other words, the translation of philosophical works into national languages
will lay down the fundamentals of what Anderson calls an imagined commu-
nity.

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