Allusions and Cultural References

Abstract

A premise normally held is that as translators become more experienced they change the way that they tackle certain challenges, perhaps as a result of their efficiency, improvement in knowledge or through adoption of certain norms. This article looks at one translator’s approach to the problems of literary allusions and cultural references. I examine the categories into which allusions and cultural references can be placed with regard both to their type (e.g. Baker 1992, Leppihalme 1994, Nord 1997, Yarosh 2013) and (apparent) function in the source text (Leppihalme 1994) as well as the types of solutions used by the translator (Newmark 1988). Selected examples from a single translation by an individual translator are analysed in order to establish the feasibility of using such categorisations in further work. With some minor adaptation, the categories proposed appear to offer a sound framework for later research that will seek to establish whether or not the translator’s approach changes over time.