Literary Translation

Literary translation is the translation of creative and dramatic prose and poetry into other
languages. This includes the translation of literature from ancient languages and the
translation of modern fiction so that it can reach a wider audience (Brooks, 2017). It can
also include the translation of other artistic texts such as film scripts or music lyrics, as
opposed to the translation of explanatory prose such as information pamphlets,
technical manuals, records, scientific papers, legal documents and the like (Cincotta,
1995).
As such literary translation has become a genre of literary creativity in which a work
written in one language is re-created in another. Because literature is verbal, it is the
only art that is subject to linguistic barriers. Unlike music, painting, sculpture, or dance,
the literary work is accessible only to those who know the language in which it is written.
The specific characteristics of literary translation are defined by its place among other
types of translation and by its relationship to original literary creativity (Mathieu, 2015).
The characteristics of literary translations as enumerated by Belhaag (1997) which was
stated by Hassan (2011) are:
 Expressive
 Connotative
 Symbolic
 focusing on both form and content
 subjective
 allowing multiple interpretation
 timeless and universal
 using special devices to ‘heighten’ communicative effect
 tendency to deviate from the language norms
According to Brooks (2017) and Hopwood (2015), Literary translation is considered to
be important as it:
 helps to shape our understanding of the world around us in many ways;
 helps to build an understanding of history, politics, philosophy and so much
more;
 reading contemporary translations provides fascinating insights into life in other
cultures and other countries;
 it allows literature to be enjoyed by more people worldwide;
 When you read a translated book, you get to understand the actions, principles,
traditions and thoughts of the people from another location; and
 It opens the door to a vast arsenal of literature that is traditionally unavailable to a
far larger number of people.
Unfortunately, the effort that it takes to translate literature can be very tiresome due to
the vast number and size of the texts involved. It can be draining since it requires a
person to stare at hundreds of thousands of words and recreating poetry in a new
language, without losing the beauty and essence of the original work can be quite
nerve-wrecking.
Hakemi (2013) even said that literary translation is still considered as a secondary
activity, for this particular type of translation is said to be (and in fact in many cases)
inferior as compared to the original.
One reason for that is the lack of creativity in many of the translations of literary works
where the process is kind of mechanical and artificial which is only aimed at conveying
the meaning. As a result, many literary translations fail to achieve the fame and quality
of the original. This becomes even more problematic when the literary work to be
translated is versified – such as poem – where its music and rhythm is as important as
its content, if not more important.
Here are some mistakes that literary translators often make according to Wordsmind
(2019):

As such, here are some literary translation techniques presented by Albir (2001):
 1. Adaptation- “technique whereby one cultural element is replaced by another
which is typical of the receiving culture. This technique is very useful when
translating advertisements, slogans, etc., which employ a number of different
linguistic processes. In these cases, the most important thing is the actual
meaning of the message rather than the words making it up.”
2. Linguistic amplification- “this translation technique adds new linguistic elements
in the target text. It is the opposite of the linguistic compression technique.” This
is usually about using a paraphrase to explain a word that has no equivalent in
the target language.
3. Compensation- “translation technique whereby a piece of information or stylistic
device is moved to another location in the text, because it does not have the
same effect if maintained in the same place as in the original text”. This process
is intended to compensate for the losses that a text suffers when it is translated.
The technique is especially useful when it comes to wordplay: if the translator
cannot directly adapt a pun, for instance, which tends to happen quite often, then
they will try to create another play on words in another part of the text.
4. Elision- a process that “involves removing items of information in the original
language text so that they do not appear in the target text. As with the linguistic
compression technique, elision is the opposite of the amplification process.” It is
certainly frequently the case that the literary translator is obliged to condense the
information contained in certain passages being translated. To do this, some
items which are not considered essential must be removed as their elision will
improve the stylistic quality of the translated work.
5. Borrowing- involves “using a word or an expression in the original text and
placing it as it is, with no modification, in the target text.” This can be an
expression taken from a third language (e.g., Latin), or a familiar expression by
speakers of the target language, or even an untranslatable expression which is
not worth explaining.
Literary translation can be very difficult since it requires the translator to have the
linguistic knowledge of both source and target language, needs to be familiar with the
target culture, and should enjoy the literary creativity like that of the original author so
that he/she can reproduce the flavor of the original in his/her translation. Nevertheless, it
is not an impossible feat so long as the translator has the passion, patience,
determination and creativity to capture the authors voice in a way that feels like it has
never been translated at all.

Prose Translation
Evidently, ‘prose-translation’ is the translation of novels, essays, fiction, short stories,
comedy, folk tale, hagiography, works of criticism, science fiction etc. It is a type of
literary creativeness where the written-work of one language is re-created in another
(Haque, 2012).
According to Stacey (2014), when the topic of challenges in translation comes up, it
might often seem like the only focus is on poetry, because of the non-obvious and often
obfuscated meaning of the words and the constraints of the form and structure.
However, the implication by omission sometimes is that prose, by contrast, is easier to
work with because while there may be symbolism and other subtleties, the actual
language is usually straightforward and you can achieve at least a competent
translation simply by working diligently through it, sentence by sentence.
Other reasons why prose is trickier than poetry is that complex prose is filled with plenty
of non-obvious artistic tricks that can be missed or misinterpreted even by an intelligent
and experienced reader and even if you manage a ‘successful’ translation in the eyes of
critics, the fact is the expectations and standards change (Stacey, 2014). Furthermore,
Brooks (2017), mentioned that the author Patrick Rothfuss explained that it is not just
the length of the text involved which is problematic. There’s also the need to stay true to
the original text while not translating it literally; humor, irony, plays on words and
plotlines revealed by implication rather than explanation all serve to make it even
harder; and a further complication can also be the assumed knowledge of the reader.
This is because references to customs, practices and traditions may be easy to
understand when reading a novel in one’s own language, but how does a translator
deliver that level of built-in knowledge to a reader in another country who may be
unfamiliar with the original language’s cultural quirks?
Haque (2012) also added that the difficulty in translation just lies in the fact that both the
content and the style are already existent in the original and as a result, you will have to
do your best to reproduce them as they are in quite a different language.
The most particular problems that the translators face include:
 illegible text
 missing references
 several constructions of grammar
 dialect terms and neologisms
 irrationally vague terminology
 inexplicable acronyms and abbreviations
 untranslatability
 intentional misnaming
 particular cultural references etc.
Nonetheless, there are some theorists who think that ‘literal translation’ is not possible.
The three main reasons supporting their stance are the following:
 Because a particular word in one language often contains meanings that involve
several words in another language. For example, the English word ‘wall’ might be
rendered into German as Wand (inside wall) or as Mauer (exterior wall),
  Because grammatical particles (verb tenses, singular/dual/plural, case markers
etc.) are not available in every language, and
 Because idioms of one language and culture may be utterly perplexing to
speakers from another language and culture.
Prose translation definitely proves to be a challenging task due to the difference
between the languages especially in the domain of their lexis, grammar and the
difference in culture. Though some say that prose has a simple structure and thus
simpler and easier to translate, this is far from true especially if the prose is in classical
style, descriptive in details, symbolic in its purpose, satirical and ironic in its tone and
colloquial in its flavor.
Thus, here are some solutions for the translators of Literary Prose suggested by Haque
(2012):
 the prose-translators should start with the careful adherence to the following
principles:
1. a great understanding of the language, written and verbal, from which he
is translating i.e. the source language;
2. an excellent control of the language into which he is translating i.e. the
target language;
3. awareness of the subject matter of the book being translated;
4. a deep knowledge of the etymological and idiomatic correlates between
the two languages; and
5. a delicate common sense of when to “metaphrase” or ‘translate literally’
and when to paraphrase, in order to guarantee exact rather than fake
equivalents between the source- and target-language texts.
 prose-translators should also follow the six principles presented by Belloc (1931):
1. The translator must regard the work as an integral unit and translate in
sections.
2. The translator must decode ‘idiom by idiom’.
3. The translator ought to translate ‘intention by intention’ hinting the
heaviness a particular term might contain in a meticulous situation in the
S.L that would be asymmetrical if translated exactly into the T.L.
4. Belloc warns against “les faux amis,” those words or formations that may
possibly come out to match up in both S.L and T.L but actually do not. For
example, ‘demander- to ask’, translated incorrectly as to ‘demand’.
5. The translator is supposed to ‘alter courageously’.
6. The translator must never overstate.
 the prose-translators can unite some of the following methods to deal with the
translation problems efficiently:
1. Back Translation: “Comparison of a back-translation with the original
text is sometimes used as a check on the accuracy of the original
 translation…” (Crystal, 2004). It is one of the most familiar practices
used to search for equivalents through:
a. The translation of items from the source language to the target
language.
b. Free translation of these back into the source language.
2. Conference with Other People: Discussions about the use and
meaning of words with bilingual people around a table to make
decisions about the best terms to use.
3. Interviews or Questionnaires or Any Kind of Tests: These are used to
remove translation-related difficulties.
In the end, since translation is simultaneously a theory and a practice, the translators,
beside dealing with the difficulties inherent to the translation of prose, must think about
the artistic features of the text, its exquisiteness and approach, as well as its marks
(lexical, grammatical, or phonological). They should not forget that the stylistic marks of
one language can be immensely different from another. “As far as the whole text is
concerned, it is simply impossible to transfer all the message of the original text into the
target text” (Yinhua, 2011).

Poetic Translation
Poetry translation may be defined as relaying poetry into another language. Poetry's
features can be sound-based, syntactic or structural or pragmatic in nature. Apart from
transforming text, poetry translation also involves cognition, discourse, and action by
and between human and textual actors in a physical and social setting. A poetry
translation project usually aims to publicize a poet or poets. It is typically overt that
poetry translators are concerned on how to interpret a source poem's layers of meaning,
to relay this interpretation reliably, and/or to ‘create a poem in the target language which
is readable and enjoyable as an independent, literary text (Jones, 2012).
Poetry translation just like prose translation proves to be challenging. This is due to the
importance of both form and content in the type of interpretation and response evoked
in the audience and whether to prefer the form over the content or vice versa.
Even for poetry, the translation dilemma is either creating a text enabling a reader to
access the original, or creating a beautiful poetic text inspired by the original. Therefore,
it is better make some distinctions on the aim pursued by translating poetry (e.g. Direct
access to the original, Interlinear translation with parallel text, Philological translation,
Single-dominant translation, Translation with a hierarchy of dominant and
subdominants, Cultural transposition, Poetic translation - author’s translation) (Osimo,
2001).
Gledhill (2001) argued that the whole field of poetry translation is still in its infancy at the
theoretical level despite three millennia of practice. As such he stated some list of
various possible approaches that can still be applied as stated by Lefevere (1975) and
Bassnett (1991). These are:
  phonemic translation (imitation of ST sounds);
 literal translation (cf. Nabokov);
 metrical translation (imitation of meter of ST);
 prose translation (rendering as much sense as possible);
 rhymed translation (added constraints of rhyme and metre);
 blank verse translation (no constraint of rhyme but still one of structure);
 interpretation (complete change of form and/or imitation).
Some tips on translating poetry were also enumerated by Liddy (2002). These are:
 Stay Close to the Poem. Read the poem again and again until the words become
second nature on your tongue. By doing this, you will be able to feel the rhythm
of the poem. You will recognize the pace, the pauses, the beats, the swirls of
energy. Write the poem in longhand and make ten copies. Stick these where you
can see and read them. Try the bathroom, the kitchen cabinet, or the freezer
door, leading to the Ben & Jerry's. These copies will familiarize you with the
poem's grammatical structure: Where the adjectives are, where there is a break
in tenses. Plus, if you put them on that package of Oreo's, it'll take you longer to
gobble the bag down. You will have to read the poem first!
 Know the poet. If you are lucky enough to pick a living poet to translate, write to
him or her. Get to know the person; ask him or her questions about the poem.
What was the poet thinking when writing the poem? What does the poet think the
poem means? Is there any imagery or language that is repeated? Is there
anything symbolic from his or her life? What does the poet think of poetry? The
more you know about the poet and his or her life, the better able you are to
understand the nuances of the poem. Be courteous and grateful. The poet is
answering your questions to help you with your translation.
 Go for Grace. When you translate a poem, your job is to stay as close to the
meaning as possible. That said, you also have artistic license to use (not abuse)
the meaning to make a clear and graceful translation. Translating slag is an
excellent example of when to use artistic license. Some slang has absolutely no
meaning in another language. In fact, a direct translation would make the poem
fail. In that case, turn the meaning of the slang into its equivalent. Remember,
you want readers in your language to enjoy the poem, not marvel at how well you
can directly translate words.
 Be Wary. This tip is for those of you who think translating takes a few minutes’
tops. There are some great computer programs that are designed for translation.
There are also some excellent dictionaries and phrase books. But do not rely on
them to give you the end-all-be-all translation. You must do the footwork. You
can use these computer programs and dictionary translations as a guide. They
may help get to the bones of the poem but your job is to put heart and live
language on those bones.
  Take a Deep Breath. When you finish a translation, sit tight for a few days,
maybe even a week, before you go over it. Take some time to think about
something else, in your own language. Then come back and see where the gaps
and the goodies are.
Due to the high cultural prestige of poetry which requires time, effort and ingenuity to
translate traditional rhyme, rhythm structures and the figurative language involved,
translating poems can be tricky. This is especially true when you want to replicate the
same emotional effects as the author did. Nevertheless, it is not impossible. All you
have to do is to feel what you need to feel, say what you need to say, and become one
with the poem as if you were the one who wrote it.

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