Literary translation

LITERARY TRANSLATION

Do you need a literary translation of fiction documents? MacroGlobal provides all types of translation services in Kyiv and throughout Ukraine in more than 20 languages.

Literary or artistic translation is the presentation of texts on artistic subjects in another language. There are the following types of translation:

• journalistic,
• and dramatic texts,
• theater publications,
• magazine articles,
• poems,
• song lyrics,
• fiction.

Compared to other types of translation, such as technical, legal, medical, etc., literary translation is considered the most difficult. Of course, each type of translation is complex in its own way, but a characteristic feature of literary translation is the translator’s ability to preserve the author’s style, take into account semantics and polysemy, and navigate the global cultural context.

WHAT IS THE SPECIFICITY OF LITERARY TRANSLATION

The peculiarities of literary translation and the specifics of the problems associated with it are determined primarily by the specifics of the literary text itself, its essential differences from other types of texts. It should occupy an intermediate position between being literally accurate but artistically inferior and being artistically complete but far from the original. In theory, it is quite easy to synthesize these two principles. In practice, however, this is impossible, because different languages use completely different means to express the same idea. Literal accuracy and artistry are in constant conflict.

The quality of the work largely depends on the goal set for the translator. There can be three of them. The first is to familiarize readers with the work of a writer whose works they cannot read themselves because they do not know the author’s language. The second goal is to familiarize readers with the peculiarities of the culture of another nation. The third is to familiarize readers with the content of the book.

In the first case, you need to introduce the reader to the author’s works, his creative style, and individual style.

Having set himself the second task, the specialist seeks to maintain the text’s correspondence to the original as much as possible, to convey the peculiarities of the culture portrayed by the author. This kind of translation will be quite informative, but it will make a completely different impression on the reader than the original. Moreover, due to significant deviations from the original text, it is not possible to convey the author’s individual style and main idea.

In solving the third task, the translator does not try to find functional analogues of certain expressive means used by the original author, neglects national specifics, and focuses entirely on the content. Such a translation can be considered justified, but it can hardly be called artistic. Unfortunately, nonfiction translation has become increasingly common in recent years.

It often happens that translations are characterized by literalism or verbatimness. That is, instead of the appropriate meaning of a word for a particular case, the main or best-known meaning is used. This is a mistake made by an inexperienced or unprofessional translator, which causes a distortion of the meaning or certain information conveyed in the original text.

HOW TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF LITERARY TRANSLATION

When assessing the quality of a translation, two main concepts are taken into account: adequacy and equivalence.

The concept of “adequate translation” is a combination of three components:

• accurate and fullest possible conveyance of the meaning of the original text;
• the transmission of the language form of the original text;
• correctness of the language used for translation.

All these components are inseparable. The slightest violation of one of them will inevitably lead to a violation of the other two.

Equivalence means the closest possible linguistic similarity between the source and target texts. The main goal here is to convey the emotional expressiveness and structural design of the original text. It is important to preserve the autochthonous ideological and emotional impact of the work on the reader, and to adhere to the author’s means of imagery, color, and rhythm.

To be able to do this kind of work, it is important to study the author’s biography, work, and the cultural context of the era when the work was written. If a translator is working on a poem, he or she must also be a poet. Because you need to use rhyme professionally. Poetry is perhaps the most creative and complex type of literary translation, and it requires the most effort.

What we offer

MacroGlobal provides translations:

• books
• magazine articles,
• novels,
• novellas,
• short stories,
• ballads,
• poems, etc.

We also provide translation services for movie texts.

You can send us a video, and our specialists will listen to it, write down the text, and translate it. By placing an order with us, you will receive the text in the original language plus a translation into the desired language.

After processing, the texts are additionally checked by highly qualified editors of MacroGlobal. You can be sure that you will receive a high-quality translation. Our agency employs translators with knowledge of more than 20 languages. Our managers will answer your questions, calculate the time and cost of translation.

We are always happy to help!

Urgent translation of literary documents is performed within 1 hour.

Why we?

The specialists of MacroGlobal have extensive experience in translating documents and preparing them for certification. We guarantee high quality translation of documents and timely execution of the order.

THE PROCESS OF ORDERING A WRITTEN TRANSLATION

When estimating the cost of work and deadlines, we need to examine the document in electronic form (scan, photo, file in any format) or from another medium directly in the office. You can leave a request on the website, write to macroglobal@ukr.net or contact the office directly.

Get a manager’s consultation in advance by calling +38 (097) 933 31 46, +38 (095) 160 10 97, +38 (044) 227 01 24.