Book launch – Jan Scholtemeijer's 'Plautus praat vlot Afrikaans'
By Faculty/Fakulteit
Posted on 30 August 2012
Jan Scholtemeijer's 'Plautus praat vlot Afrikaans' was launched during a pleasant function in the Lier Theatre
on the campus of the University of Pretoria on Tuesday evening 7 August 2012.
Professor Scholtemeijer was the head of the Latin Department from 1984 up to his retirement in 1996. He
passed away on 21 November 2010. The publication of his Afrikaans translations of Plautus is a tribute to an
exceptional tutor, colleague and friend.
The publication contains Afrikaans translations of four dramas of the Roman comedy playwright, Plautus.
What makes the original translation of Jan Scholtemeijer's Plautus comedies very special is that they were
translated for the stage and for production, and that all four comedies have been performed by students of
the University of Pretoria's Drama Department.
The Scholtemeijer family: Johannes and Brandt Scholtemeijer, Willemien, Rohan and Dewald von Solms,
Rina Scholtemeijer, Eric and Gerda Guldemond
The Afrikaans titles of the four comedies already reveal something of the originality of the translations.
Plautus's Menaechmi deals with the misunderstandings that arise when the Menaechmi twin brothers turn
up in the same town after many years. The Babel-like confusion that follows becomes Scholtemeijer's Die
Gebodder met die Broeders. Miles Gloriosus, which involves a loud-mouthed soldier, is very appropriately
named Brigadier Bek.
In Mostellaria Plautus describes the plotting and scheming of one of the slaves who tries to pull a fast one
on his owner by pretending that there is a ghost in his house and Scholtemeijer aptly names it Die
Spookhuis. The fourth comedy, Aulularia in the original Latin, is about a stingy old miser who discovers a pot
of gold in his house and with great anxiety tries to prevent anyone from discovering and stealing it – which,
of course, duly happens. Scholtemeijer called the play Potparanoia, thereby giving a striking description of
the obsession that the main character, Euclio (Giel Snoepsent in Scholtemeijer's version) has with his pot of
gold.
These are the first published translations of the well-known Roman playwright's work in Afrikaans.
Regarding his approach to the translation, Scholtemeijer felt strongly that the final product had to be
rendered in a natural-sounding Afrikaans that would work on the stage. The translation, or 'Afrikaansifying' of
the Latin text (as he referred to it), must not be a literal word-for-word translation, but it must have the same
comical punch as the original drama. He compared his approach to that of Plautus himself, who also
'translated' or 'romanised' Greek dramas.
Furthermore, he showed that the translation itself is a creative process in which the original is ‘created’ in a
new language, as it were.
Scholtemeijer's Afrikaans translation can be described as pithy, ingenious, playful, comical, witty,
mischievous, scintillating, boisterous, uninhibited and exuberant, as behoves a Plautus comedy. Everything
considered, the title 'Plautus praat vlot Afrikaans' appears to be most appropriate.
Carel Trichardt, producer of three of the comedies, also attended the launch and conveyed his
congratulations on the publication of the book. He elaborated on the cooperation between the Latin and
Drama Departments and told of the special personal cooperation between himself and Jan Scholtemeijer.
The publication was sponsored by the Cordis Trust. Without this financing, the project would have remained
nothing but a dream. Fanie Marais of Cordis Trust also briefly mentioned the activities of the Trust, which
supports several Afrikaans culture, language, as well as compassionate projects.
The evening was concluded with a cheese and wine reception made possible by the contributions of Tuks
Alumni, the Faculty of Humanities and the Academia Latina.
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