English Language Departmental Magazine - PSAU

this history to
transferring
language to show
another
Linguistic
Translation and Literature
by Bashair AlSheddi
QUOTATION ABOUT TRANSLATION
“Translation is not a matter
of words only: it is a matter
of making intelligible a
whole culture.”
Anthony Burgess.
QUOTATION ABOUT LITERATURE
“Literature is one of the
most interesting and
significant expressions of
humanity.”
P.T.Barnum
Is it possible that translation and
literature have some similarities?
In this article I will mention why I believe
that translation and literature do have
similarities.
Culture
Translation and literature both give importance to
culture. In translation in order to translate the text
correctly you have to know or learn about the
culture of the source and target language. Because
culture as we all know affects everything, including
translation to other languages.
In literature, culture affects the writer’s way of
writing, and thinking. Each period or movement is
known for their culture at that time. For example,
Romanticism is all about giving importance to
emotions, happiness, and sadness, especially about
nature which was shown in the writers’ literary
works.
works are more related to the emotion of the
writer so the translator’s duty is to transfer the
emotion and meaning of the writer’s works to the
target language as it is, otherwise he/she will
disrespect the source text and the writer. As (FIT)
stated in the translator charter, “Every translation
shall be faithful and render exactly the idea and
form of the original this fidelity constitutes both a
moral and legal obligation for the translator.”
This indicates that the translator task is to
respect and transfer meaning, style, of the source
text as it is to the target language, but of course
keeping the target language culture in mind.
So translation and literature do have some
similarities for sure, but the methods differ For
example, literature is producing or writing the
literary works which is not normally exist, but
translation is about translating the text which is
already written by someone to another language
(the target language).
both emphasize on
They
the same things, but
nearly
i mentioned literature is
as
to the history of
related
periods, while
previous
is more to
translation
Language
In translation, language is everything just like
literature. Especially in translating literary works,
because the language used in literary
share the history and
and
reason / story behind
the
this source text.
LETTER VOLUME-2
20 NEWS