Literary translation: An

Introduction
Hassane Darir
 Literary translation:
• This is a course in Literary Translation.
• Literary Translation is concerned with the translation of
Literary texts, which include fiction (short stories/
novels), poetry, drama, children's literature, (auto-
)biography, advertising materials, and other popular
works of fiction that require a creative and flexible
approach.
• CF.: informative writing of all kinds – e.g. travel, art and
sport, journalism, university textbooks.
• Literary Translation involves the attempt to render into
one language the meaning, feeling and, so far as
possible, the style of a literary work written in another
language.
• The translation of literature is fundamentally
different from other types of translation .
• Talking about literary translation, the
translation of Literary texts, or translating
literature, in short, assumes that there are
literary as well as non-literary texts. Let us
reflect for a moment about this distinction.
• In order to specify and narrow what is meant
by literary texts, as well specifying some of
their characteristics, we can proceed by
exclusion, i.e. by listing some of the non-
literary texts.
 What could be meant by non-literary
texts:
• Scientific texts,
• Legal texts,
• Technical texts,
• Medical texts,
• Informative texts,
• Etc.
• Now, the essential question is what
characterizes literary texts as opposed to non-
literary texts?
• For this purpose, we can draw a table as
follows:
 Literary texts Non-literary texts

Concerned with: Imagination and creativity as a Concerned with facts

form of art. and information

What are - Expressive values/function Communicative

important are: - Aesthetic effect/values function

Particular Flexibility and inventiveness of Terminology

translation style, rhetorical devices,
challenges: beauty of the words (diction),
tone,
figurative language (Figures of
speech: metaphors, etc.),
knowledge of SL & TL culture,
an ear for sonority and humor.
 Literary Translation vs. Non-literary Translation

Literary Translation Non-literary Translation

• literary translation focuses on • Non-literary translation
the way the information is
delivered. focuses on information.
• Aesthetics more important • semantic equivalence more
than semantic equivalence important than aesthetics
• Equivalent effect – same
effect on readers of TT as on
readers of ST.

Compare a smoothly, highly readable translation of a ST with a stilted, rigid and

artificial rendering that strips the ST of its soul.
 Literary Translation
• The Translation of literature is fundamentally different
from other types of translation because of the
dominance of the poetic (aesthetic ) communicative
function in literary texts.
• For example, an artistic image created in a particular
literary work (be it the image of a character or nature)
will certainly have an impact on the reader. Thus, in
literary translation, the translator is supposed to pay
much attention to the form of language and the
specific stylistic features of the text as well as its
meaning (content).
• Transferring information to the target language
(TL) reader is not the only purpose of literary
translation. On the contrary, creating an
equivalent form of art is also an important part
of the task of the translator.
• In this perspective, the literary translator is
supposed to be equipped not only with at least
two languages and their respective cultures but
also with relevant literary knowledge.
• Literary translation is truly a creative process
in that it recreates a certain work in the TL.
The practitioner of this type of translation
should feel the spirit of words and the spirit of
the work. Furthermore, he/she should have
the skill of conveying them into another
language.
• literary translation might involve some
deviations from the “standard rules” of
translation. Indeed, a literal translation
cannot reflect the depth and meaning of a
literary work.
 Unending plethora of choices
• More than in other branches of the translator's art,
literary translation entails a plethora of choices.
Sometimes, sentences may convey the same
information, but they differ significantly in aesthetic
effect; thus the translator is constantly faced with
choices to make with regards to diction (choices of
words), faithfulness (fidelity), emphasis, punctuation,
and register. In literature, it happens that seemingly
straightforward sentences may be rendered in several
different ways, each resulting in a subtle shading
(nuance) of meaning.
• Therefore, no two translations of the same work
would ever be the same.
• Interpreting the spirit of the work is the main
task of the Literary translator so that the
reader can read fluently and feel the spirit of
the original text in its translation as it was felt
in its original language.
 The main principles of literary
translation are:
• As far as possible, the literary translator seeks
to:
• transfer the originality and the poetic
communicative function of the source
language text (SLT) into the TL;
• Preserve the artistic effect or quality (i.e. the
artistry) of the SLT in translation.
Transferring the originality Preserving the artistry
and the poetic
communicative function in translation implies:
of the source language 1. compatibility of the
text (SLT) into TL implies: tone, artistic images,
1. Rendering the meaning, style and forms in the
tone (i.e. the general
feeling or attitude TL;
expressed in a piece of 2. maintaining the
writing, a speech, an aesthetic effect in the
activity etc.), author’s
style and artistic TL.
images created in the
particular literary work
to the reader
• In literary translation , more than in any other
type of translation, the translator is constantly
faced with choices to make with regards to
word choice (diction), fidelity, emphasis,
punctuation, and register.
 Why translate literature?
• There are various reasons inducing translators to translate
literary works:
For the translator:
• to experience for oneself, to have one’s share of the
creative process of the original writer,
• to be recognized as part of the literary world with its
intellectual rewards,
• to gain prestige,
• to expand the potential readership of a literary work
For the literary work:
• To acquire new potential readership for a literary work
For the target language readers:
• To have access to different worlds.
Requirements of the literary translator

• Literary translation requires a lot of skills. In

addition to a thorough mastery of the source and
target language and their respective cultures, the
literary translator has many things to do before
actually translating a work.
1. Familiarizing oneself with the literary work: its
stylistic elements, its message, tone, style, and
inventiveness,
2. Sorting cases of ambiguity, both lexical and
structural.
• We should not forget that the
translation of a book or a poem will
be read, perhaps, by thousands of
readers.
 Acknowledgements/ Sources
This lecture is based to a large extent on:
• Landers, Clifford (2001) Literary Translation: A
Practical Guide. UK: Cromwell Press Ltd.
• Lefevere, André (1992) Translating Literature:
Practice and Theory in a Comparative
Literature Context. New York: MLA of America.