FIT FIT Literary & Creative Translation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'domestication' in the context of literary translation strategy?
- Adapting foreign cultural elements to be familiar and natural to the target audience (Correct answer)
- Translating only texts that originate from the same country as the translator
- Using source-language syntax unchanged in the translated text
- Avoiding all idiomatic expressions in the target language
Correct answer: Adapting foreign cultural elements to be familiar and natural to the target audience
Domestication replaces foreign cultural markers with familiar target-culture equivalents, making the translation feel natural to readers in the target language.
Question 2: When translating a novel's wordplay or pun, what is the translator's primary obligation?
- To recreate the same humorous or playful effect in the target language, even if the specific words differ (Correct answer)
- To provide a literal translation followed by a lengthy footnote explaining the joke
- To omit the wordplay if no direct equivalent exists
- To contact the author and request they rewrite the passage for easier translation
Correct answer: To recreate the same humorous or playful effect in the target language, even if the specific words differ
The translator's goal is to reproduce the functional effect of wordplay—humor, surprise, wit—rather than mechanically preserve words that won't work in the target language.
Question 3: What role does a 'translator's preface' or 'translator's note' play in a published literary translation?
- It gives the translator space to explain translation choices and cultural context for the reader (Correct answer)
- It serves as a legal disclaimer releasing the translator from liability for errors
- It is required by FIT for all certified literary translations
- It replaces the author's introduction in the target-language edition
Correct answer: It gives the translator space to explain translation choices and cultural context for the reader
A translator's preface or note makes the translation process transparent, helping readers understand cultural decisions and the translator's interpretive choices.
Question 4: In translating a historical novel, why must the translator research the source text's historical period?
- To use language register and vocabulary appropriate to the era depicted in the story (Correct answer)
- To obtain copyright permission from the historical period's government
- To avoid using any modern vocabulary in the translation
- To calculate the correct word count for the original period's printing standards
Correct answer: To use language register and vocabulary appropriate to the era depicted in the story
Historical accuracy in language register ensures the target text evokes the same period as the source, preventing anachronistic vocabulary that would break narrative authenticity.
Question 5: What is 'back translation' and why is it used in the evaluation of literary translations?
- Translating the target text back into the source language to check for meaning drift or distortions (Correct answer)
- Translating a work from an older edition into a more contemporary version
- Creating a bilingual edition where both versions appear on facing pages
- Translating the same source text by two different translators for comparison
Correct answer: Translating the target text back into the source language to check for meaning drift or distortions
Back translation converts the translated text back into the original language, allowing editors and authors to spot unintended shifts in meaning introduced by the translator.
Question 6: How should a literary translator approach proper names in a target-language edition for US readers?
- Decide case-by-case whether to retain, adapt, or transliterate based on cultural impact and recognizability (Correct answer)
- Always transliterate all names phonetically without exception
- Replace all foreign names with common American names for familiarity
- Omit names entirely and replace them with pronouns
Correct answer: Decide case-by-case whether to retain, adapt, or transliterate based on cultural impact and recognizability
Name treatment in literary translation depends on the name's cultural resonance, symbolism, and how much it affects character identity or humor in the story.
FIT FIT Literary & Creative Translation 2
What is 'domestication' in the context of literary translation strategy?