What is literary translation?

by Target Language Translation Services

- August 10, 2021

Each book is a source of knowledge, a way to broaden horizons, learn about the world of foreign literature, become more educated and enlightened. Illustrative material in a foreign language cannot be comprehended without the intervention of a specialized translator. Literary translation is a very specific and particular type of translation, which is fundamentally different from other categories. This is because the main principle of literary translation is the dominance of poetic communicative function. It indicates that in addition to rendering information to the reader, literary translation also has aesthetic functions.

Features of Literary Translation

1. The author's voice and emotionality as well as the style of the original text are maintained. It is the translator's responsibility to carry out the translation in accordance with the choice of the author's lexicon, the word runs, and to search for expressions that are at least equivalent to the source language.

2. A creative approach to translation. However, this does not mean that the translator can change the meaning and/or content of the original text. Creativity lies in the mastery of selection of - in the course of translation - the right synonyms, epithets, metaphors, so that the translated text is as natural and readable as the source text.

3. Adaptation of the translated text to the cultural characteristics and mentality of the country of the target language.

Difficulty In Doing Literary Translations

The variety of literary works being translated shows the demand for various genres. While we cannot deny the significance of translating literature, the process of translation is hard and involves a various process than regular content translation. It is one of the toughest among the types of translation works.

One of the most obvious is the number of words for most works contain hundreds of pages.

Another category that is very challenging for literary translators is poetry. There is the requirement to keep a balance to remain faithful to the original source with the request to create a work that is distinctive and unique, which will elicit the same feelings and reactions as the original work.

Any translator who has done literary translation will confirm that even one word can be exceedingly troublesome for them. It is therefore vital for the translator to fully understand the whole story and the actual intent of the author and carefully chooses the words they use to make sure that the true message of the author is delivered faithfully in another language.

The more challenging part is that there is no direct translation of a specific word or phrase or when several options are available and each one has a slight variance in nuances. Literary translators have different approaches when they do translation work. Some focus on retaining the ambience of the local culture as reflected in the content instead of the language.

It is not only the length of the content that proves problematic in literary translation but also the names, which are mostly made up by the authors. The names may sound like actual names in English, but these could give translators a more difficult time when translating the novel into another language.

Another complication is the need to retain the true intent of the original text while the content is not literally translated. The translator has to pay attention to recreat the ambience of the novel despite avoiding word for word translation. It is also made even harder by the implications shown by the plotlines, play on words, irony and humor that need transposition without resulting to giving explanations.

Another thing that complicates the translation of novels is the reader’s knowledge. Novels are written by authors who are from different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, their references to traditions, practices and customs may be understood by readers who speak the same language as the author or have the same ethnic background. The job of the translator is to deliver that kind of inherent knowledge to the reader speaking another language and may not be familiar with the cultural oddities of the original language.

Translators of literary works do not care for literal translation. The job needs the translation of idioms and local sayings. It requires that the translator have a specialized dictionary and a large personal vocabulary. Literary translation deals with humor and play on words that must be transposed into the target language.

Required Skills Of A Literary Translator

To handle the difficulty in doing literary translations, a more specific skillset is required when a translator translates literature. The task is more creative than other translation works. In technical translation for instance, the focus is on delivering text that is a literal interpretation of the original source. As for prose and poetry, creative writing goes hand in hand with linguistic fluency.

The translator should also have the confidence in his or her ability to do the job. One of the most significant things is the ability to make the right choice when bogged down with words or sentences and move forward to tackle the rest of the content.

Likewise, the translator should be able to deliver continuity, especially when translating novels that are exceedingly long. The translator should be able to remember the facts, especially those that were applied in the early pages of the novel that reappear in the middle or latter part of the literary work.

Types of literary translation services

At Target Language Translation Services, we provide the following translations:

• Translation of novels, books, articles, stories and other types of prose,

• Translation of poetry,

• Translation of film texts, songs, poems, ballads.

• Translation of literary and critical articles.

• Translation of advertising materials with literary content.

• Translation of magazines and articles.

• translation of other texts that requires a creative and flexible approach.

Conclusion

Literary translation requires a lot of skill. The translation of a book or a poem, perhaps, will be read by thousands of readers, which means that the text needs to be adequate and moreover - we need to focus on the fact that the translated document should create the same image as the original.

This article is reprinted from ESF LANGUAGE SERVICE, POLYGLOT and Day Translations.

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