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Literary translation consists of the translation of poetry, plays, literary books, literary texts, as well as songs, rhymes,

literary articles, fiction novels, novels, short stories, poems, etc.

Translate the language, translate their culture.

Translation of literary works (novels, short stories, plays, poems, etc.) is considered a literary pursuitin its own right. For example, notable in anadian literature specifically as translators are figures

such as !heila Fischman, "obert #ickson and Linda $aboriau, and the $overnor $eneral%s

 &wards annually present pri'es for the best nglishtoFrench and Frenchtonglish literary

translations.

*ther writers, among many who have made a name for themselves as literary translators, 

include +asily hukovsky, Tadeus' -oyele/ski, +ladimir 0abokov, 1orge Luis -orges, "obert

!tiller  and 2aruki 3urakami.

the point of the translation is not merely to communicate the

contents of a certain message. A translation cannot be judged like

a mathematics test. Certain ‘criteria’ may be fullled – the rhyme

scheme could be intact, the metaphors satisfactory, a respectable

amount of alliteration preserved, the style of the original author

attempted, and the meaning, hatever that means, the same –

but hen it comes don to it, a literary translation is a ork of

art, like the original, and it should be evaluated as such. !here are

also, of course, di"erent genres to consider ithin the term‘literary’. #oetry is possibly the most inter

Introduction

iterary translation implies the translation of all genres of literature, whichinclude prose, drama and poetry. Johnson (1999:1) describes literature as

'an apparently nebulous body of knowledge in oral or written form, an

imitation of life, which reflects ciili!ation and culture, and which coerseery angle of human actiities"culture, tradition, entertainment, information

among others.' #t is one of the great creatie and uniersal means ofcommunicating the emotional, spiritual and intellectual concerns of

humankind.

$iterary translation has to do with translating te%ts written in a literarylanguage, which abounds in ambiguities, homonyms and arbitrariness, as

distinct from the language of science or that of administration. $iterary

language is highly connotatie and sub&ectie because each literary author is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_storyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_storyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_literaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_literaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_literaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Fischmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dickson_(writer)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dickson_(writer)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dickson_(writer)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Gaboriauhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_General's_Awardshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_General's_Awardshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_General's_Awardshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_translatorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_translatorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Zhukovskyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Boy-%C5%BBele%C5%84skihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Boy-%C5%BBele%C5%84skihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokovhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokovhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borgeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stillerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stillerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stillerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stillerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_Murakamihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_Murakamihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_storyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_literaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Fischmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dickson_(writer)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Gaboriauhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_General's_Awardshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_General's_Awardshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_translatorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Zhukovskyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Boy-%C5%BBele%C5%84skihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokovhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borgeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stillerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stillerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_Murakamihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literature

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le%ically and stylistically idiosyncratic and through his power of imagination,he uses certain literary techniues such as figures of speech, proerbs and

homonyms through which he weaes literary forms.

he literary translator is therefore the person who concerns himself with

translation of literary te%ts. literary translator, according to *eter +ewmark(19:1) generally respects good writing by taking into account thelanguage, structures, and content, whateer the nature of the te%t. he

literary translator participates in the author's creatie actiity and then

recreates structures and signs by adapting the target language te%t to thesource language te%t as closely as intelligibility allows. -e needs to assess

not only the literary uality of the te%t but also its acceptability to the targetreader, and this should be done by haing a deep knowledge of the cultural

and literary history of both the ource and the arget $anguages.

What is Literary Translation?

$iterary translation is orking ith a te%t in

its original language to prepare a version in

a ne language. !his ork promotes

broader reading and distribution of the

ork. &n some cases'for

instance, Gilgamesh, a ork composed in

ancient languages of the (iddle )ast'

translation is the only ay the te%t is made

available to general readers.

All but to of the orks in Invitation to

World Literature are translated from a

language other than )nglish. !he to orks

in )nglish, The God of Small

Things andThings Fall Apart, have

themselves become orld literature in part

through the many translations that have

been made into other orld languages.

*e%t+ What is involved in literary

translation?

hat is involved in literary translation

 !he art of translation begins ith reading,

riting, and editing- the same skills a riter

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uses. A translator must be able to

understand and appreciate the te%t in its

original form, and then ill use the

resources of a riter+ style, tone, diction,

ord choice, grammar, imagery, and idiom,

to name just a fe, to create a ne version

of the ork that provides this e%perience to

readers in the ne language. $iterary

translators have sometimes been termed

double agents, serving to masters like

spies ho ork for both sides, the original

author and the reader in the target

language. !hey must also understand the

many varied conte%ts of the te%t, its time

period, geography, and style and ho those

conte%ts a"ect translations for readers ho

are in di"erent conte%ts. /ust as a double

agent ill likely make compromises in his or

her ork, a translator must strike a balance

as a te%t is ushered from one language into

a ne one. *e%t+ The best translation?

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