The Principle of Naturalness in German as a Target Language: Observations on Literal Translation in the TL-Rendering of Phraseological Units as a Translation Strategy for Prose Texts

Abstract

In translations of literary works, recipients of the target text know only the results of the translation process; readers are unfamiliar with the original and are unaware of the translation’s deviations from the original text, as well as the fate of source-language phraseological units. In a translated text, only word-for-word translations and subsequently unnatural-sounding passages stand out. They seem artificial and non-literary even to readers that do not know the original. It is therefore reasonable to use the criterion of naturalness when discussing and assessing translation solutions. The “invisible” effects of a neutralization strategy for dealing with phraseological units may become apparent here, especially in descriptions of protagonists in the source-language work. The phraseological features that especially stand out when editing a translation are expressions translated word-for-word that have an artificial effect. In this context, interlingual comparison appears to be extremely helpful. This issue is addressed using the example of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s novel Bez dogmatu (Without Dogma), a work nearly forgotten today. In translations of literary works, recipients of the target text know only the results of the translation process; readers are unfamiliar with the original and are unaware of the translation’s deviations from the original text, as well as the fate of source-language phraseological units. In a translated text, only word-for-word translations and subsequently unnatural-sounding passages stand out. They seem artificial and non-literary even to readers that do not know the original. It is therefore reasonable to use the criterion of naturalness when discussing and assessing translation solutions. The “invisible” effects of a neutralization strategy for dealing with phraseological units may become apparent here, especially in descriptions of protagonists in the source-language work. The phraseological features that especially stand out when editing a translation are expressions translated word-for-word that have an artificial effect. In this context, interlingual comparison appears to be extremely helpful. This issue is addressed using the example of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s novel Bez dogmatu (Without Dogma), a work nearly forgotten today.