Translation, Language and Fiction Publishing in Africa: The Case of Uganda

Abstract

This study explores the relation between multilingualism and the publishing of fiction books in Africa. Fieldwork into fiction publishing in Uganda is used to illustrate how publishing in Africa is affected by the fact that many languages are spoken within the borders of one country. It shows that book publishing is closely related to language policies. Because of the dominance of the English language in public domains, a legacy of the colonial rule of the British, publishing in indigenous languages has proven to be hard to develop in Uganda. As a consequence, the role of book translation has been very small so far. Itamar Even-Zohar's polysystem theory is used as a framework, guiding the fieldwork. While useful in many aspects, this study suggests that this theory is not fit for explaining the marginal role of translation in multilingual, post-colonial societies, like Uganda.