[en] &lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Many studies have depicted different ideas on the translation of prose by different translation scholars. But their cultural perspectives have not been treated immensely most especially, the issues relating to the translations of African prose texts and their narrative elements.&lt;span&gt;&nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The translation of culture-specific items as evident in African literature into foreign language becomes an issue most especially when the translators are not in the same linguistic community with the novelists. This study, therefore, attempts to analyse the culture-specific items in the English translation of Mariame B&acirc;&rsquo;s &lt;em&gt;Une si longue lettre &lt;/em&gt;(1981) which was translated by Modupe Bode-Thomas as &lt;em&gt;So Long a Letter&lt;/em&gt; (1989)&lt;span&gt;.&lt;span&gt;&nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Random sampling is used to elicit data from the source and the target texts. The study therefore employs descriptive and comparative research methods in analysing the data from the textual perspective. We adopt Seleskovitch and Lederer&rsquo;s Interpretative Theory of Translation (1970s).The theory postulates that the translation of a text should produce the same aesthetic effects on target readers as the original text does and this can be achieved through the theory&rsquo;s components - comprehension of meaning, deverbalisation and reformulation of meanings. The study concludes that sufficient knowledge of the cultures of the languages involved in translation should be acquired by the translator of a literary text. Equally, there are methods of compensation to allow the target audience to simplify the purported difficult words and expressions that are culturally based in translation. Such compensation devices can be in forms of adaptation and the use of illustrative devices in order to avoid under/over translation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[fr] &lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;La traduction d'&eacute;l&eacute;ments sp&eacute;cifiques &agrave; la culture, comme en t&eacute;moigne &agrave; la litt&eacute;rature africaine, vers une langue &eacute;trang&egrave;re devient un probl&egrave;me, surtout lorsque les traducteurs ne font pas partie de la m&ecirc;me communaut&eacute; linguistique que les romanciers. Cette &eacute;tude tente donc d&rsquo;analyser les &eacute;l&eacute;ments culturels sp&eacute;cifiques dans la traduction anglaise d&rsquo;&lt;em&gt;Une si longue lettre &lt;/em&gt;(1981) de Mariame B&acirc;, traduite par Modupe Bode-Thomas sous le titre &lt;em&gt;So Long a Letter&lt;/em&gt; (1989). L'&eacute;tude emploie donc des m&eacute;thodes de recherche descriptives et comparatives pour analyser les donn&eacute;es d'un point de vue textuel. Nous adoptons la th&eacute;orie interpr&eacute;tative de la traduction de Seleskovitch et Lederer 1970). Cette th&eacute;orie est bas&eacute;e sur la compr&eacute;hension, la d&eacute;verbalisation et la reformulation des significations du message de textes. L'&eacute;tude conclut qu'une connaissance suffisante des cultures des langues impliqu&eacute;es dans la traduction devrait &ecirc;tre acquise par le traducteur d'un texte litt&eacute;raire. De m&ecirc;me, il existe des m&eacute;thodes de compensation permettant au public cible de simplifier les mots et expressions pr&eacute;tendument difficiles et culturellement fond&eacute;s dans la traduction&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;