FIT FIT Literary & Creative Translation 2

Question 1

What is 'domestication' in the context of literary translation strategy?

Accepted Answer

Adapting foreign cultural elements to be familiar and natural to the target audience

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

To recreate the same humorous or playful effect in the target language, even if the specific words differ

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

It gives the translator space to explain translation choices and cultural context for the reader

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

To use language register and vocabulary appropriate to the era depicted in the story

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

Translating the target text back into the source language to check for meaning drift or distortions

Answer

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.

(FIT) International Federation of Translators Certified Translator Practice Test

(FIT) International Federation of Translators Certified Translator Practice Test

FIT FIT Literary & Creative Translation 2