A critical exploration of the usage of euphemism and hyperbole in the Sesotho sa Leboa translation of Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom

Abstract

Translation makes it easier for the target readership to be exposed to other cultures. It is, therefore, the responsibility of every translator to use the target language aptly to convey the intended meaning of the source language to the target readers. Translators can use various ways to form a bridge between source culture and target culture. To determine how the translator conveyed the source text meaning to the target readers, this article focuses on euphemism and hyperbole as two ways of dealing with the source text’s content in the Sesotho sa Leboa translation of Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom using the descriptive approach. In addition, the article considers whether euphemism and hyperbolic expressions were able to retain the message intended by the original author. From the sample of euphemism and hyperbolic expressions studied, it was established that the translator managed to convey euphemism successfully, showing that the polite wording used in Sesotho sa Leboa culture captures the real meaning of what the source text author intended, while hyperbole with its excessive exaggerations was also brought across effectively.