There are thousands of languages present in this world. As a mean of communication, translation is used for tourists, official documents, textbooks, and instructions all around the world. But why is literature translation is a special area? Isn’t it just a bunch of text that needs to be rendered in different tongue? Hardly! That very bunch of text helps community build social thinking and probably the culture of a people. Therefore, we are going to discuss the main problems of translation in literature.
Translating works of literature can accumulate a lot of problems. Starting with language such as interpreting grammar, punctuation, words, figurative language, and irony as well as humors and problems with cultural diversities such as tone / dialect, idioms, and cultural focus.
The most important and the most common problem of translation in literature is the language translation itself. In some literatures, the tone of the translation resembles the original language. Have you ever speak English in Chinese or Arabic style? That’s what I’m talking about. It is English, but the literature style still on the previous language so that it’s not that fun to read and understood.
The second problem of translation in literature is that there are many words that can’t be translated since it is related to some culture or ethnic. But this point makes the reader somehow confused, especially if they are not familiar with the original language. Additionally, you can add notes or further explanation about this in the footnotes.
The next problem is cultural issues. It is never an easy task to transfer a text stepped in one culture to another. This situation particularly demands the translator’s point of view to the use of culturally specific metaphors and allusions. A metaphor is a unique device in that it is the only one, which relies entirely on cultural familiarity to take effect. And those without cultural reference, a metaphor is merely a no sensible
And one of the most important things to do for a translator is to understand entirely the original text and analyze it from the translator point of view. In that way, the translator would know the intention and the purpose of the writing. They can start to see where the direction of the text is going and finally they can guide the reader to the right way. Therefore the problems of translation in literature are no longer a problem. Tada!
Translating works of literature can accumulate a lot of problems. Starting with language such as interpreting grammar, punctuation, words, figurative language, and irony as well as humors and problems with cultural diversities such as tone / dialect, idioms, and cultural focus.
The most important and the most common problem of translation in literature is the language translation itself. In some literatures, the tone of the translation resembles the original language. Have you ever speak English in Chinese or Arabic style? That’s what I’m talking about. It is English, but the literature style still on the previous language so that it’s not that fun to read and understood.
The second problem of translation in literature is that there are many words that can’t be translated since it is related to some culture or ethnic. But this point makes the reader somehow confused, especially if they are not familiar with the original language. Additionally, you can add notes or further explanation about this in the footnotes.
The next problem is cultural issues. It is never an easy task to transfer a text stepped in one culture to another. This situation particularly demands the translator’s point of view to the use of culturally specific metaphors and allusions. A metaphor is a unique device in that it is the only one, which relies entirely on cultural familiarity to take effect. And those without cultural reference, a metaphor is merely a no sensible
And one of the most important things to do for a translator is to understand entirely the original text and analyze it from the translator point of view. In that way, the translator would know the intention and the purpose of the writing. They can start to see where the direction of the text is going and finally they can guide the reader to the right way. Therefore the problems of translation in literature are no longer a problem. Tada!
Main Problems of Translation in Literature
4/
5
Oleh
Rahmatan Lil 'Alamin
