Cacophony in unison: Translation strategies in achieving ‘singability’ in the Silozi and Citonga versions of the Zambian National Anthem

Abstract

This paper examines the translation strategies that were employed in the translation of the Zambian national anthem from English into two Zambian languages, Silozi and Citonga. The paper employs a comparative approach in an attempt to show that, in the translation of the national anthem into the two languages,the translators used various strategies in order to achieve ‘singability’ in the translated versions. Some of these strategies have compromised the source meanings of the national anthem to the extent that even if the singers of the three versions are singing the same tune, the semantic content in the different versions of the national anthem is not always the same.