An Ecolinguistic Analysis of Ecological Narratives in the English Translation of Jeanne Marie Rosette Abou’ou’s Lettre À Tita: Translation Strategies and Ecosystemic Effects

Abstract: This study conducts an ecolinguistic analysis of the English translation of Jeanne Marie Rosette Abou’ou’s bilingual novel Lettre à Tita (2012–2013), translated by Maurice Ngompe (2014). We examine how ecological narratives evolve between the two volumes of the novel and how their translation into English preserves, transforms, or erases these narratives. Drawing on Stibbe’s (2015) typology of ecological narratives, Chesterman’s (1997) taxonomy of translation strategies, House’s (2015) model of translation quality assessment, and Venuti’s (1995) distinction between foreignisation and domestication, we analyse 174 bilingual segments across four thematic categories: fauna, eco-cultural practices, flora and natural elements, and natural phenomena. Our findings reveal a radical rupture between the two volumes: Volume 1 constructs an animist ecology of harmony and symbiosis, while Volume 2 documents an ecology of degradation and extraction. Ngompe’s translation adopts a resolutely foreignising strategy, with literal translation (35.9%) and borrowing (29.2%) as the dominant procedures. The translation demonstrates complete preservation of ecological meaning in 67.2% of segments, with ecosystemic gains (13.2%) primarily occurring in Volume 2, where the translation amplifies the ecological critique. We conclude that Ngompe’s translation functions as an act of cultural and ecological resistance against neo-colonial homogenisation.