The Role of Literary Translation in Establishing Cross-cultural Dialogue. Untranslatability and the Desire to Transplant Foreign Concepts

Abstract

The article discusses the question of untranslatability in contemporary literary translation thorough the analysis of examples chosen from novels currently translated from English into Polish. It argues that the age of globalization makes the translator’s task at the same time easier and more difficult. Following issues are discussed: translating concepts represented in the source and target languages with the use of different ideas and images, translating concepts involving significant differences in the language structure, and translating idiomatic expressions carrying additional meaning. The analysis is followed with the recommendation of the techniques to be adopted in each respective case. This is offered as an answer to the question how to transplant a foreign concept into the native context, making it at the same time seem familiar and foreign.