Are self-translators like other translators?

Abstract

Abstract This article comments on the status of self-translators and the self-translated text by examining the English self-translation of André Brink's novel Kennis van die aand/Looking on darkness as a case in point. The article contextualizes Brink's novel in the broader framework of self-translation theory in search of a definition that would best define its status as a product of this unusual form of transfer. Using examples of the various discrepancies noticed between the Afrikaans and English versions, it is shown how the self-translator in question has followed common translation procedures despite the fact that he enjoyed an authority and a liberty that other translators usually lack. The point is then made that it is ultimately the fact that a transfer between two language systems has been made that determines the type of process followed, rather than the identity or status of the producer.