Journal Article

Amandina Lihamba's Gendered Adaptation of Sembene Ousmane's \The Money-Order\

Mwangi, Evan

2009

Overview

This essay examines the adaptation and translation of Sembene Ousmane's novella The Money-Order (originally published in French in 1966 as Le mandat) into \"Hawala ya Fedha\" (1980), a Kiswahili play by the Tanzanian woman dramatist Amandina Lihamba. Drawing on the contemporary theories of translation and adaptation that demote fidelity to the original as the cornerstone of translation, I demonstrate that the changes that Lihamba introduces in her text do not result from the incommensurability among the languages involved (Wolof, French, English, and Kiswahili), the muchvaunted clash of civilizations, or the supposed incompatibility between the two genres (novel and play); rather, she is invested in amplifying gender issues in Sembene's novel through a popular public medium to signify the urgent need for women's literacy in Julius Nyerere's Tanzania.

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Subject: Adaptation / Adult education / African literature / Analysis / Anonymous writers. Authors / Civilization / Criticism and interpretation / Cultural conflict / Drama / Dramatists / English language / English speaking literatures / Fidelity / Financial services / Francophones / French language / French speaking and English speaking literatures / Gender / Gender studies / History and sciences of litterature / History of literature / Language / Language translation / Languages / Lihamba, Amandina / Linguistics / Literacy / Literary criticism / Literary translation / Mbembe, Achille (1957- ) / Money / Mothers / Motion pictures / Muslims / Novelists / Novels / Nyerere, Julius K / Ousmane, Sembene / Philippine islands / Play languages / Playwrights / Sex crimes / Socialism / Stage adaptations / Swahili language / Tanzania / Theater / Theatre / Translation / Wives / Wolof language / Women / Works