At first glance, the translator’s task may seem straightforward: to render words accurately. In practice, it is often more important to preserve not the object itself, but the impression it creates for the reader.
For such cases, translators rely on a technique known as holistic transformation.
Consider this example: in an English fairy tale, a swallow appears. Yet for a Russian-speaking audience, the translator may choose a starling instead. From a biological perspective, these are different birds. From a literary perspective, however, they can serve a similar function. As a result, the reader experiences the same associations and emotions as the audience of the original text.
The same principle applies to food, everyday realities, and cultural references. For instance, if a particular dish in one culture is associated with something healthy yet unpopular with children, a translator in another culture may replace it with a local equivalent that evokes the same associations.
In such cases, the translator’s key question is not “What is this literally?”, but rather “What function does it serve in the text?”
Holistic transformation helps preserve:
• the atmosphere of the text;However, this technique must be used with caution. In a recipe, a scientific article, or a legal document, such substitutions may distort essential information. A translator must therefore constantly balance factual accuracy with the accuracy of effect.
What do you think matters more in translation: preserving the original object, or the emotions it evokes?
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