The Challenges of Literary Translation

Lots of literary work has been done by many famous poets and writers in the past. Many nations try to preserve the pieces of literary works because they depict their civilization. To share literary work with one another, nations go for literary translation services. These services help in the cultural exchange of views. 

For this reason, many nations get their books translated into multiple languages. For example, Pinocchio is a  religious book which is written by an Italian author. To your surprise, it is translated into 260 languages. Moreover, Film is also made in this book. How can people get leverage from a piece of literary works? This is through translation services.

The History of Literary Translation

The history of literary translation is very deep, and it depicts the scope of a literal translation. You will be amazed to know that the Oxford History of Literary Translation has five volumes of the English translation, which is enough to show the scope of a literal translation. Many people are of the view that literary translation has been done for years.

 Is Literary Translation Difficult?

Literary translation is not an easy task. Why? This is because it involves the translation of poetry, creative prose, and dramas in different languages. This task is imperative because it shares the information of one culture with another. Whether it is history, literature, or politics, only the translation company can provide you with professional translation services.

Challenges of Literary Translation

These services hold great significance because they can change the perspective of the reader regarding culture, religion, and literature. Do you want to know the challenges of this difficult task? Let’s dive into them.

Translation Should not Change the Original Style of the Author

No doubt that every translation should be accurate and precise; however, a literary translation is one step ahead. To translate any famous book, a Literary translator should have a literary background, and he should be a subject-matter-expert of its field. This will ensure that the literary translation services that they are producing are of high quality and can be shared easily.

These translators also make sure that they don’t alter the unique expression and writing style of the author. Therefore, they use such words that are not so literal and not so exaggerated as compared to the original context. The word in the translation evokes the same feelings and emotions in the readers as he evokes in the original context.

Use Culturally Specific Expression

Did you know that sometimes the names of famous characters and the names of poems and novels are considered adjectives? One such example is of the famous fictional character of 1630 play written by Tirso de Molina. Don Jaun is a notorious character because he used to cheat women.

When this character got famous, Don Jaun was used to represent a womanizer. The main challenge in performing the literary translation is whether the translators should keep the same name in other languages too. Or they should mention the name in the note. The next option can be that they can find equivalent characters in the target language culture.

Playing with the Words and Tongue Twisters

One of the other challenges that the literary translators face is how to play with the words and how to use tongue twisters in the target language. Translators must spend more time on their translation. Rory’s lawn rake rarely rakes right, or She sells seashells by the seashore of Seychelles, or you name many more.

The literal translators face a great problem in finding similar expressions in other languages. Moreover, they also face great difficulty in searching for words that are pronounced similarly.

Use of Dialects and Slang

The readers are familiar with the popular dialects and slang used in popular books and poems. However, it becomes a challenge for them when they go for literary translation services. Here the challenge is, while literal translation, how they can retain the unique writing style of the author. One of its classic examples is Gone with the wind, which is written by Margaret Mitchell. The character in this novel speaks different dialects.

Skills Required for Literal Translator

Unlike other translations, literal translation also requires a specific set of knowledge skills and attitudes. It is the most creative form of translation. If you are translating a medical prescription, you must do word-to-word translation. On the other hand, if you are required to translate Poetry, then you must have creative skills with language proficiency.

Confidence is another important skill for a literal translator. It is good to get involved in the literature to get an intended message of the sentence. The translator should be confident enough to make rational choices among different words.  Last but not least for a literal translation, he keeps on doing the translations with continuity. For instance, he can translate the novel of 30000 pages with continuity and well on time.

Wrapping Up

Do you want literal translation and are looking for a reliable translation company? For this, you should first know the challenges the translator can face while doing literal translation and know the skill sets required for a literal translator. This will make your quest for professional translation services easy.