%0 Journal Article
%T RENDERING CAESAR: THOUGHTS ON THE TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH OF N P VAN WYK LOUW¡¯S GERMANICUS
%A J-M Claassen
%J Akroterion
%D 2012
%I Stellenbosch University
%R 10.7445/51-0-63
%X This paper discusses its author¡¯s attempt to translate into English the verse drama Germanicus by the Afrikaans poet NP Van Wyk Louw, which is based on Tacitus¡¯ Annales 1-3. After a general discussion of translation theory and of Louw¡¯s theories relating to the classical tradition, the paper highlights, with examples, problems encountered on the levels of prosody, of register and of equivalence of meaning. Louw¡¯s poetic Afrikaans is so concise that it requires an effort to be as brief in English. ¡°Shakespearian English¡±, both lexis and wordorder, is closer to the Germanic Afrikaans, but would be unacceptable in a modern translation. Louw¡¯s idiosyncratic use of Afrikaans, deliberate archaisms and occasional neologisms call for interpretative reading before these can be translated. The paper ends with a short reference to the place of Louw¡¯s Germanicus in the international Classical tradition.
%U http://akroterion.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/63