LITERARY TRANSLATION
Literary Translation Is To Be Made by Professionals!
When translating from a foreign language, a language expert actually creates a new text. The thing is that the overall meaning depends on the meaning of every separate word which must not only be known but also “felt”. For this reason, literary translation (or translation of fiction) is widely regarded to be most difficult kind of translation to make.
The specialists making literary translations should not only be good translators – they should be writers as well. Not without reason the brilliant foreign literature works became known by Russian readers through the translations by Zhukovsky, Pasternak, Marshak … The literary work is actually not translated but is created again.
Peculiarities of Literary Translation
Literary translation is different from, to say, technical translation as it should not only reproduce the original word for word. No doubt, a translator of fiction knows the culture and mentality of the native speakers very well. Otherwise not only will he or she be able to make the author’s idea clear, but also fail to convey the atmosphere, outlook, style of the book and the author’s language – all those things which are so important when one reads foreign literary works.
That is why when reading a book translated by a professional translator we enjoy it not even thinking that the text had been translated from a foreign language. There is another important thing here – the reader’s perception to a large extent depends on the subtext, national culture and many more other factors which are always considered by a highly skilled translator. What is more, before starting the translation, he or she spends much time trying to catch every single peculiarity of the original. Then it is time to use professional “literary” skills: a good style, ability to write in Russian correctly and excitingly, imagination, life experience, and art of interpretation.
What Do We Translate?
In addition to prose and poetry, our literary translators work with other texts as well. These can involve popular science articles and books, epistolary works (correspondence, memoirs of people of arts or culture, politicians, etc.), social and political essays (critique, literary criticism, etc.), advertising, audio-materials.
Conclusion
So, any text translation when it is not enough just to reproduce every word can be regarded as a literary translation. A literary translator must not only have good language skills, but also be fluent at using phraseology, idioms, expressive style, and feel the wordplay. Are you now convinced that literary translation should be made only by the skilled professionals? Our translators will do the best work!