ABSTRACT
This chapter reveals the invalidity of some assumptions regarding the role of translation in African literature. Critics and authors of the corpus of texts designated as African literature often consider problematic the role of European languages in this literature. A discourse based on the practice of translation represents one strategy among others for resolving the crisis of identity of African writing in European languages. The translating process by definition requires interaction and dialogue between languages. Such interaction is rarely neutral, even less so in postcolonial societies. Critics have used different terms to characterize the defining features and impact of translating techniques involved in African compositional translations. The chapter explains the significance of Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo's translations of the night as follows: In effect, to translate night or translate from the night does not mean to describe night as a static state.
