Launch of TCC Press: Deryck Uys translations
Shakespeare was not, and has never been, an exclusively ‘English’ playwright. He drew on stories and poetry that he had encountered either in other languages or in translation from those languages. His plays are full of words and phrases quoted, borrowed or adapted from other languages, as he experimented with (and helped to shape) what we now refer to as early modern English. While he was still alive, his plays were being performed in non-Anglophone contexts; soon they would be translated for audiences and then, over time, for readers. It started with Dutch and German. It continued with Russian and French – and Mandarin, Bengali, Setswana, Kiswahili, Yoruba . . .
Now the Tsikinya-Chaka Centre, under the imprint of TCC Press, will contribute to this remarkable multilingual tradition of adaptation and appropriation by focusing on African languages. The first published translations of Shakespeare’s plays into African languages appeared in the 1930s (through the pioneering work of Sol Plaatje in South Africa and E.T. Johnson in Nigeria). Over the course of the next century, dozens – even hundreds – of African-language translations were produced. Through the Sol Plaatje Archive of Shakespeare in African Languages, the Tsikinya-Chaka Centre digitises and collects these texts in order to make them more accessible. TCC Press is committed to publishing new translations, in both print and e-book format, demonstrating the range of Shakespearean translation across the continent in recent years.
Watch this space for new translations into isiZulu, isiXhosa, Shona and more!
TCC Press launches with a series of Afrikaans Shakespeare translations by Deryck Uys. The first publication, out in December 2022, is Koning Richard III (order it from the TCC Press store). This will be followed early in 2023 by Macbeth, Koning Lear and Romeo en Juliet. Use the discount code DERYCKUYS at checkout to get 20% off if you order these four titles together!
We are deeply grateful to our sponsors and partners, especially Legacy Underwriting Managers, who have made the Deryck Uys series possible.
About the translator
Deryck Uys was born in Aliwal North, South Africa, in 1926. His family moved to Germiston and, when his father was called up for service during the Second World War, Deryck attended Pretoria Boys High and then Parktown Boys High. He finished his schooling at Potchefstroom Boys High, where he won the prestigious Hope Essay Prize; he used the prize money to buy the complete works of Shakespeare and several volumes of poetry.
He passed his attorney’s admission examinations at the age of 19. From 1948 to 1952 he worked on a gold mine and assisted on tobacco farms in what was then Southern Rhodesia. Living alone in a remote part of the Zambezi Valley, he read widely in English and Afrikaans literature – and he began translating Afrikaans poetry into English.
In the 1950s, Uys attended an Afrikaans production of Hamlet that used L.I. Coertze’s translation; later, he was deeply impressed by Uys Krige’s Twaalfde Nag (1967). This spurred his desire for “Afrikaans people to appreciate English poetry and English people to appreciate Afrikaans poetry”. He did not, however, have time to pursue his passion for translation. For half a century, he practiced as an attorney-notary and conveyancer. He also lectured at UNISA and the University of Cape Town, and he was influential in the computerisation of the South African legal profession. He is an honorary member of the SA Law Society.
Upon retirement, despite losing his sight due to glaucoma and macular degeneration, Uys embarked on a series of translation projects. His first was an Afrikaans translation of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, which he had memorized during his days as a farmer. Uys translated poetic extracts for Tom Burgers’ Karoo Pastoraal (Cedar Rand Press, 2010) and he also tackled the poetry of John Milton. It took him three years to translate the Complete Works of Shakespeare into Afrikaans, using a 7x magnifying glass and reading only three letters at a time. An electronic version of Sonnette van Shakespeare appeared in 2013 but his translations of the plays have not previously been published.
According to Uys, “Translating poetry, including the blank verse of the Shakespeare plays, is vastly different from translating prose. The translator has to be a poet. The translations have to stand alone, as works of art in their own right. The poet paints pictures for the inward eye, and composes music for the inner ear.”
Bekendstelling van TCC Press en Deryck Uys se Shakespeare-vertalings
Shakespeare is níe, en was nooít, ’n uitsluitlik Engelse dramaturg nie. Hy is beïnvloed deur verhale en gedigte waarmee hy omgegaan het in ander tale óf deur vertalings van hierdie tale. Sy werk wemel van woorde en frases wat vanuit ander tale aangehaal, geleen of aangepas is – ’n proses wat nuutskeppings in ‘Vroeë Moderne Engels’ (soos dit tans bekendstaan) aangespoor het. Tydens sy leeftyd is sy dramas in nie-Anglofoniese kontekste opgevoer, om spoedig vir gehore en dan, mettertyd, ook vir lesers, vertaal te word. Dit het met Nederlands en Duits begin. Toe volg Frans, Italiaans, Russies – en ook Manderyns, Bengaals, Setswana, Kiswahili, Joroeba . . .
Die Tsikinya-Chaka Centre en TCC Press poog om by te dra tot hierdie merkwaardige, veeltalige tradisie van aanpassing en toe-eiening, met die fokus op Afrika-tale. Die eerste vertalings van Shakespeare se dramas in Afrika-tale het in die 1930’s verskyn (deur die baanbrekerswerk van Sol Plaatje in Suid-Afrika en E.T. Johnson in Nigerië). Met die verloop van die opvolgende eeu het dosyne – selfs honderde – Afrika-vertalings die lig gesien.
Die Tsikinya-Chaka Centre se Sol Plaatje-Argief van Shakespeare in Afrika-tale is verantwoordelik vir die versameling en digitalisering van hierdie tekste om hulle meer toeganklik te maak. By TCC Press wend ons ’n ernstige poging aan om nuwe vertalings die lig te laat sien, beide in druk en e-boek-formaat, om sodoende die omvang van onlangse Shakespeare-vertalings regoor Afrika te demonstreer.
TCC Press word bekendgestel met Deryck Uys se Shakespeare-vertalings in Afrikaans.
Die eerste vertaling in die Deryck Uys reeks is Koning Richard III (nou beskikbaar by ons aanlyn winkel). Macbeth, Koning Lear en Romeo en Juliet volg in 2023. Gebruik die afslagkode DERYCKUYS om ‘n 20% afslag te kry as jy hierdie vier titels tesame bestel.
Ons is innig dankbaar teenoor ons vennote en borge, veral Legacy Underwriting Managers, wat hierdie reeks van Deryck Uys se Shakespeare-vertalings in Afrikaans moontlik gemaak het.
Oor die vertaler
Deryck Uys is in 1926 in Aliwal-Noord, Suid-Afrika, gebore. Nadat sy gesin Germiston toe verhuis, word sy vader opgeroep vir diensplig in Die Tweede Wereldoorlog. Deryck studeer aan Pretoria Boys’ High School en daarna aan Parktown Boys’ High School. Hy voltooi sy skoolloopbaan aan die Potchefstroom High School for Boys, waar hy die gesogte Hope Essay Prize verower. Met sy prysgeld koop hy die volledige werke van Shakespeare en verskeie digbundels.
Op die ouderdom van 19 slaag hy sy toelatingseksamen vir prokureurs. Vanaf 1948 tot 1952 werk hy op ’n goudmyn en is behulpsaam op tabakplase in die destydse Suid-Rhodesië. As alleenloper in ’n afgeleë deel van die Zambesie-vallei, lees hy breedvoerig uit die letterkunde van beide Engels en Afrikaans. So begin hy om uittreksels uit die Afrikaanse digkuns in Engels te vertaal.
In 1950 sien hy ’n Afrikaanse produksie van Hamlet wat gebasseer is op L.I. Coertze se vertaling, en later is hy hoogs beïndruk deur Uys Krige se Twaalfde Nag (1967). Dit lei tot sy strewe na wedersydse waardering van mekaar se digkuns van die kant van beide Engels- en Afrikaansprekendes. Hy praktiseer vir ’n halfeeu as prokureur en wel as notaris- en transportbesorger. Hy tree ook op as lektor aan UNISA en die Universiteit van Kaapstad, waar hy ’n groot aandeel het in die rekenarisering van die Suid-Afrikaanse Wetsbedryf.
Met sy aftrede spits hy hom toe op ’n reeks vertalingsprojekte, ten spyte van die feit dat sy sig aan die verswak is as gevolg van gloukoom en spierverswakking. Die eerste projek is ’n Afrikaanse vertaling van Die Rubáiyát van Omar Khayyam. Uys vertaal ook digterlike uittreksels uit Tom Burger se Karoo-Pastoraal (Cedar Rand Press, 2010) en dan pak hy ook John Milton se digkuns aan. Dit neem hom drie jaar om die volledige werke van Shakespeare in Afrikaans te vertaal. Tydens dié proses gebruik hy ’n 7x-vergrootglas, waarmee hy net drie letters op ’n keer kan lees.
In Uys se woorde: “Die vertaling van digkuns, ingeslote Shakespeare se vrye verse vanuit sy dramas, is radikaal verskillend van die vertaling van prosa. Die vertaler moét ’n digter wees. Hierdie vertalings moet alleenstaan as kunswerke in eie reg. Die digter skilder beelde vir die inwendige, selfstandige oog en komponeer musiek vir die binne-oor.”