Izinhanha

A free (!) isiXhosa translation of Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom is coming soon

This is a free post from Our Long Walk, my blog about the economic past, present, and future of South Africa. If you enjoy it and want to support more of my writing, please consider a paid subscription to the twice-weekly posts that include my columns, guest essays, interviews and summaries of the latest relevant research.

---

Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom, first published in 2021, is getting an isiXhosa translation. And the wonderful news is that, thanks to the support of the Chair in Economics, History and Policy I now fill at Stellenbosch University, the isiXhosa edition will be available to download on PDF for free.

Why an isiXhosa translation, you may ask. Two reasons. First, because of the positive feedback from students who are happy to admit that this is not a book they would typically pay any attention to in a bookshop. The English edition simply missed a large part of the audience I wanted to engage with. A book that is free and easy to distribute on mobile phones will, hopefully, reach a much broader readership at a time when conversations about the road to economic freedom are critical.

The second reason surprised me. Translating Our Long Walk into Afrikaans (published as Skatryk), I realised two things. One is that there is value in rewriting a book in a different language because it forces the author to critically reflect on jargon that might have become too familiar in the original language. What – precisely – did I mean when using the phrase ‘Cliometric Revolution’, for example? Two, translation reveals cultural nuances and expressions unique to the target language, especially if it is the author’s mother tongue. In Skatryk, I revised sections of Our Long Walk to incorporate metaphors that only Afrikaans speakers would grasp. I believe Skatryk resonates more deeply with native Afrikaans speakers than Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom does.

I hope that this is also true for isiXhosa speakers reading Izinhanha. As always, the translation is a group effort. Besides securing funding, most of the project’s work will be carried out by Zameka Sijadu, a colleague from Stellenbosch University, who will serve as the translator. She wrote a very kind message after translating the first three chapters:

I must say I enjoyed translating your book, Johan. It is such an eye opener to me, I would have never understood or cared to read about economic history if it was written in English. Reading my translations is so wonderful and easy to my Xhosa mindset. This will certainly benefit your students who come from a Xhosa background; the university has a growing number of village students.

Mike and Stefni Cruywagen at Nudge Studio has again designed a beautiful cover, which now features a ‘shout’ by the agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo. I also want to thank Erika Oosthuysen and her team at NB Publishers, who were willing to award me the isiXhosa publication rights at no charge.

Translated chapters of the book will be released as they become available. Check out www.johanfourie.com/ourlongwalk for more information. And, to kindle the flame of economic freedom, please share it as widely as possible!

‘Izinhanha’ was first published on Our Long Walk. The image was created with Midjourney v6.