THE TRANSLATION OF FEMINIST IDEOLOGY IN MARIAMA BÂ’S “SO LONG A LETTER”: A STUDY OF FEMALE DISCOURSE IN THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Abstract

The translation of feminist literature remains one of the most ideologically sensitive areas of literary translation because feminist meanings are often embedded in culturally coded expressions, emotional silences, and gendered linguistic structures. In Une si longue lettre, Mariama Bâ constructs a powerful critique of patriarchy, polygamy, and the socio-religious marginalization of women in postcolonial Senegal. However, the transfer of these feminist nuances into the English version, So Long a Letter, raises critical questions regarding the preservation, transformation, or dilution of female voice and ideological resistance in translation. This study therefore interrogates how feminist ideology is negotiated in the English translation of the novel and examines the extent to which the translator reproduces the author’s gendered discourse and cultural identity. The study adopts Feminist Translation Theory as propounded Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s feminist translation theory. Using a qualitative comparative textual methodology, selected excerpts from the French source text and the English target text are comparatively analysed to identify ideological shifts, lexical modifications, and gendered translation strategies. Findings reveal that while the translation substantially preserves the novel’s feminist orientation, certain expressions of resistance, emotional intensity, and cultural symbolism are semantically softened through domestication and linguistic adaptation. Terms relating to polygamy, female suffering, and patriarchal authority occasionally lose their ideological sharpness in the target text. Nevertheless, the translation successfully retains Ramatoulaye’s narrative agency, reflective voice, and critique of gender oppression. The study concludes that feminist literary translation demands ideological sensitivity beyond linguistic equivalence and recommends a gender-conscious translation model applicable to other African feminist texts.