FIT FIT Literary & Creative Translation

Question 1

What is the primary challenge in literary translation compared to technical translation?

Accepted Answer

Preserving the author's voice, style, and aesthetic intent alongside meaning

Answer

Literary translation requires the translator to recreate the author's unique voice and artistic choices, not just transfer factual content.

Question 2

What does 'foreignization' mean as a strategy in literary translation?

Accepted Answer

Retaining elements of the source culture to expose the target reader to the foreign text

Answer

Foreignization, associated with Lawrence Venuti, preserves source-culture features rather than fully domesticating the text, making the reader aware of the translation's foreign origin.

Question 3

In poetry translation, what is the concept of 'semantic equivalence' often balanced against?

Accepted Answer

Formal equivalence in meter, rhyme, and sound

Answer

Poetry translators constantly balance preserving the literal meaning (semantic equivalence) with recreating rhythm, rhyme, and phonetic effects (formal equivalence).

Question 4

What is a 'cultural untranslatability' problem in literary translation?

Accepted Answer

A source-language concept with no direct equivalent in the target language or culture

Answer

Cultural untranslatability occurs when a word or concept is so embedded in the source culture that no equivalent exists in the target language, requiring creative solutions like borrowing or explanation.

Question 5

How does a translator typically handle dialect or regional speech in literary works?

Accepted Answer

By finding a target-language dialect or register that conveys a similar social or geographic identity

Answer

Translators map source-language dialect onto a target-language equivalent that signals the same social, regional, or class distinctions to the target reader.

(FIT) International Federation of Translators Certified Translator Practice Test

(FIT) International Federation of Translators Certified Translator Practice Test

FIT FIT Literary & Creative Translation