SE X, SLANG, AND SKOPOS

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SE

X, SLANG, AND SKOPOS

Analysing a translation of The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance

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Abstract

This paper analyses the translation methods used in translating a colloquial, culture-specific text containing allusions and informal language. The analysis focuses on the difficulties arising in the translation of culture-specific phenomena and aspects such as slang and cultural references as well as allusions and language play. The theoretical framework used for structuring the analysis is supported by the theories of Newmark (1988), Nida (1964), Schröter (2005), Reiss (1989), Pym (2010) and Leppihalme (1994), among others. The results indicate that the translation of culturally and connotatively charged words require knowledge and understanding of languages and cultures alike. Further, the results indicate that concept of a word or concept being ‘untranslatable’ may originate from such lack of understanding or knowledge and that further research on the subject is needed.

Key words

Skopos, translation, equivalence, formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence, aesthetic equivalence, allusion, slang, language play, cultural aspects, untranslatability

Acknowledgments

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Appendices

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1. Introduction

Translation is often considered as the act of converting or transferring one or several words from one language to another (Oxford English Dictionary, henceforth OED), which seems straightforward and simple enough. Yet language does not merely consist of words taken completely out of their context; there are extralinguistic factors such as tone, collocations, humour, idioms, metaphors and language play to be taken into account. A cock can be something other than a male fowl, for instance.

It has long been the opinion that language play, humour and cultural phenomena such as slang are almost, if not even completely, untranslatable (Schröter, 2005:97). Yet all these aspects are crucial parts of language and communication, and therefore of importance – or as Schröter describes, the author would hardly have gone to the trouble of inserting it were it of no importance, regardless of how informative the nature of the text (Schröter, 2005:109). Such additions to the text can for instance act as communicative devices for creating a relationship between the author and the reader, allowing the author to invite and include the reader by making them feel “intelligent enough to get the allusions and congenial enough to appreciate the jokes” (Partington, 1998:140). This study aims to analyse these language aspects and their translatability, as well as the strategies and definitions required to determine translatability.

2. Aim

The aim of this study is to analyse the translation strategies used in the translation of an informal English non-fiction source text to Swedish, with special focus on so-called untranslatable aspects of language; slang, language play, allusions and cultural references. The present study analyses the manner in which these aspects of language are translated from English to Swedish, and how a colloquial and informal tone is transferred between the two languages through the use of translation theories such as skopos and equivalence. More specifically, the aim is to answer the following questions:

• What factors affect the choices between the strategies available for the translation of this type of text?

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2.1 Method

The source text Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels (2009), authored by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan, was read closely, and its purpose and contents analysed in order to comprehend the intentions of the text to facilitate a nuanced translation. Thereafter, the text was translated by using the CAT1_{-tool MemSource with the}

additional help of online dictionaries, such as The Oxford English Dictionary and Svenska Akademiens Ordbok and other internet sources, such as online corpora Korp. Slang terms, allusions, idioms and cultural references were identified and categorized according to form of equivalence required (formal, dynamic or aesthetic) and translation strategy employed (omission, substitution or adaptation, as well as softening, direct translation and stylistic compensation).The source text as well as the alternatives in the target text were researched by the use of internet sources such as slang dictionaries, for instance Slangopedia and Urban Dictionary, and popular culture database Fandom.com, as well as parallel texts such as The Pirate and the Pagan (1990).

To further assist in the translation choices made, theories and strategies found in secondary sources were used to determine the course of translation action and analyse the difficulties encountered. These included, but were not confined to, Reiss’ text type and translation methods (see section 3.1), Nida (1964), Pym (2010) and Koller’s (1989) theories on equivalence (see section 3.2 onwards) as well as Newmark (1988), Leppihalme (1994) and Schröter’s (2005) thoughts and strategies for translation of cultural aspects such as language play and allusions (see section 3.3 onwards).

2.2 Material

The research in this study is based on the translation of chapter six and approximately half of chapter seven, or pages 136–56, of the 2009 book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan. The source text is written in American English and primarily aimed at a US and North American audience (as Canada is referenced) and is, in short, a history, critique and defence of the romance novel, making the primary target group readers and researchers of the genre in particular, and literature in general. The book is written in a colloquial, informal tone and contains many, and some quite advanced and complicated, references to popular culture, slang, playful language and language play, such as the comment “Mother Nature: more fucked-up than a Rosemary

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Rogers hero!” (Wendell & Tan, 2009:136). This sentence, which ends a footnote on non-consensual sexual relations in nature, refers to the traditional imagery of nature as a maternal creature, and by describing said creature in a contradictory manner consisting of slang profanity and a reference to a specific author and her work provides a humorous description of the maternal imagery. The authors of the source material are bloggers Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan from the prominent romance blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, which reviews and discusses romance novels, and the podcast Smart Podcast, Trashy Books.

3. Theoretical background

Slang is for the purposes of this essay defined as informal and non-standard terminology, such as swearing, used for expressing distinctive information, such as belonging to a particular social group such as “youngsters” (OED; definition 1c). In the same manner, language play is classified as the use of language for other intended purposes than the denotative meanings contained within (Schröter, 2005:78), such as for instance using the term chicken for coward rather than its intended denotative meaning of ‘young poultry’ (Schröter, 2005:185). Allusion is characterized as a reference to an external phenomenon or aspect (OED) which requires pre-existing knowledge to be properly identified by the reader or recipient, such as for instance the use of the allusion ”Not cats falling out of trees” in the OED example ‘Not cats falling out of trees, but really good,’ Meyers said. The allusion, to a viral video, caused Huffington's face to crinkle with glee, referencing a 2008 New Yorker article (OED; definition 1). Slang, language play and allusions are examples of cultural aspects of language, however not the only examples; other cultural aspects are for instance holidays or festivals which differ between cultures. Cultural aspects as well as slang, language play and allusions will be further defined and discussed in section 3.3.

The translation strategies used are skopos theory, defined as a purpose-led methodology, and formal, dynamic and aesthetic equivalence; three very different means of transferring form, function and content of a source text, based on the intention of the source text. Skopos theory will be elaborated on in section 3.1 and the different types of equivalence will be further discussed in section 3.2.

3.1 Skopos Theory

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Skopos, a Greek word meaning ‘purpose’, states that “one must translate, consciously and consistently, in accordance with some principle respecting the target text. The theory does not state what the principle is: this must be decided separately in each case” (Vermeer, 1989b:182 in Nord, 1997:29-30). This means that in order to achieve a functional and “correct” translation, the intention of the target text must be established in order to determine which form of equivalence (further discussed in section 3.2 onwards) is required for the most adequate translation (Nord, 1997:36). Therefore, the skopos of the source text has to be established in order to determine which type of equivalence the translator should resort to. The general idea is therefore to interpret and thereafter translate in a manner that enables the translated text to function in a similar situation in the intended manner for a similar target group as the target text (Vermeer, 1989a:20 in Nord, 1997:29), as “a translation is a communicative service, and normally a service for a target language receiver” (Reiss, 1989:107).Therefore, determining the text type is imperative in determining its skopos. Traditionally, there are three text types, as shown with examples in the below diagram (Reiss, 1989:105).

Figure 1. Reiss’s diagram of traditional text types (Reiss, 1989:105)

Naturally, no text variety represents only one of the functions, and the placements of the examples in the triangle diagram are of course approximations and indications.

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determining which of these text types the source text primarily belongs to, Reiss suggests the following correlations between text type and translation methodology (Pym, 2010:47):

Table 1. Reiss’s correlations of text types and translation methods

Communicative function Translation method

Informative text Correctness of content, acceptability of form Expressive text Correctness of contents, corresponding form Operative text Effect has priority over content and form

These translation methods correlate to the various forms of equivalence, which will be further discussed in the forthcoming sections.

3.2 Equivalence

The concept of equivalence describes the relationship of equal value, referring to meaning, connotations and communicative effect (Nord, 1997:35-6). When translating, a translator’s task is to take a message in one language, recode it and convey it in another, with the message remaining as close to the original as possible (Williams, 2013:32), and equivalence therefore requires and means that the translation will have the same values as the source text from which it originates (House, 1997:30, Pym, 2010:7-8). However, these values, as mentioned, refer not only to the meaning of the source text, but also the stylistic and communicative aspects. Further, in addition to these equal values, the translation must also make sense in the target language (Campbell, 1979:445ff in Nida, 1964:162).

Souter is quoted by Nida as saying, “[o]ur ideal in translation is to produce on the minds of our readers as near as possible the same effect as was produced by the original on its readers” (Souter, 1920:7 in Nida, 1964:164). Nida (1964) also suggests that a completely natural translation is a complicated task, as writing reflects and uses the unique traits of the language in which the writing is performed, and therefore the translator must not only contend with these unique traits in their translation, but also be competent enough to produce an effect as relatively equivalent as possible in the target language (Nida, 1964:163) – presumably using the same unique traits available in that language. Equivalence is therefore a relative concept in each particular translation (House, 1997:25).

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equivalence used. By using formal equivalence, the term will be literally translated to “Tuesday the 13th_{” and in using dynamic equivalence, the function of the term will take}

precedence over the form and therefore translate to the western expression “Friday the 13th”, activating a similar cultural function - describing a day of bad luck (Pym, 2010:8). In Italy, this day of bad luck is “Venerdì 17” or ”Friday the 17th_{”. These differences in weekdays and}

dates are due to the concept of a “bad luck day” is connected to different historical events for each culture – Friday the 13th is believed to be connected to the suffering and death of Jesus Christ (Hartston, 2007:365), Martes 13 stems from the Byzantine surrender to the Muslims in 1453 (Falcon, 1998:64), and Venerdì 17 is traced to the number 17 written in Roman numerals, XVII, which shuffled reads VIXI, meaning ‘I have lived’, implying that the life has expired, and thus death and bad omens are expected (Harris, 2007). Thus, the date representing a day of misfortune or bad luck is dependent on the cultural and historical aspects connected to such a day, and therefore varies.

3.2.1 Formal equivalence

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aim is to simply tell the reader what they need to know, without greater regard as to how the reader is told this.

3.2.2 Dynamic equivalence

Similar to formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence also aims to be accurate and correct, however less so in form but function. Dynamic equivalence aims to create a naturally expressed target text, attempting to relate the source text to the target language recipient through means of their own culture – meaning that no understanding of context of the source language or source culture is required in order to understand the message of the text (Nida, 1964:159). Nida states that a dynamically equivalent translation can be described as something a bilingual and bicultural person would state “That’s just the way we would say it” in reference to (Nida, 1964:166). However, it is of utmost importance to remember that a dynamic translation of the text is still a translation and not just any old message relatively similar to the source, and therefore must clearly retain the meaning and intent of the source text – “The closest natural equivalent to the source-language message” (Nida, 1964:166).

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directional aspect of the push–pull is reversed (Nida, 1964:237). Should the target language lack such an expression, the conceptual content of someone joking with someone else must be implemented through the structurally relevant terms available, while still appealing to the target audience idiomatically. The emotive meaning of physical movement would in such a case be lost. However, as there is no universally understood concept of physical movement and joking, the translation is not bound by this detail (Nida, 1964:168).

3.2.3 Aesthetic equivalence

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3.2.4 Skopos and equivalence

The connection between Reiss’ translation methods and the different types of equivalence can be approximately correlated as per the below table:

Table 2. Correlation between Reiss’s translation methods and types of equivalence

Communicative function Translation method Type of equivalence Informative text Correctness of content,

acceptability of form

Formal equivalence

Expressive text Correctness of contents, corresponding form

Dynamic equivalence

Operative text Effect has priority over content and form

Aesthetic equivalence

Informative texts, in which the content is of utmost importance, can thus be said to adhere to the theories of formal equivalence, whereas expressive texts seem to correspond to those of dynamic equivalence, as this allows for supplementation of what is expressed if the contents do not completely do so on their own. As for operational texts, which are highly adaptive and heavily depend on how the target reader is meant to react and feel, it is reasonable to assume that the most appropriate type of equivalence is aesthetic. As previously mentioned under 3.1, there are very few texts that belong to solely one category, and aspects of the other categories may be applicable to parts of any text.

3.3 Cultural aspects of language

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examples of the “bad luck day” Friday the 13th_{and its Spanish and Italian counterparts in}

sections 3.2 and 3.2.1 above. In conclusion, he states that “In considering social culture one has to distinguish between denotative and connotative problems of translation” (Newmark, 1988:98) – something which can be connected back to the idea of skopos theory; the purpose of the translation.

A typical issue in the translation of cultural aspects is the cultureme: “a social phenomenon of a culture X that is regarded as relevant by the members of this culture, and when compared with a corresponding social phenomenon in a culture Y, is found to be specific to culture X” (Nord, 1997:34). That is, something which occurs in one culture that is definitive of that culture when compared to something similar in another culture. For instance, drinking tea is a major part of British culture, with tea being considered the country’s “national drink” (Lemm, 2019). Though the word tea itself is a generic and globally used term, in itself not specific to a particular culture (Newmark, 1988:95), the cultural relevance of the beverage makes it a cultureme as per Nord’s definition above. Therefore, in translating it, one must determine what the purpose of the cultural aspect is. Much like the Friday the 13th example previously mentioned under 3.2.1, the translator must decide whether the translation should convey the cultural aspect of the source culture, or whether the social phenomenon of the beverage should relate to the target culture. As an example, if the aim of a translation is to describe British culture, the purpose of the cultureme is to convey the source culture and should therefore be translated in a denotative manner, to the target language’s word for the beverage. However, if the purpose is to explain a social phenomenon understood by the target culture regardless of knowledge of the source culture, a connotative translation approach is preferable. In Sweden, for instance, coffee is the “national drink” instead of tea (Griberg, 2018: Section Schweizerier ersatte kaffehusen, para. 3), so if the purpose of the source text is to describe the social phenomenon of national beverages rather that the specific British one, adapting the source term tea for the target term coffee would be the appropriate approach.

3.3.1 Language play

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recipients attention (Schröter, 2005:89). This desired effect is sometimes drawn from the contrast created between the denotative sense and the novel context in which the language play is applied (Partington, 1998:135). Irony and sarcasm are typical examples of this contrast, where the lexical meaning is twisted in the context to mean the very opposite. For instance, if someone said that they were incredibly excited over getting a parking ticket, this would probably quite easily be understood as being a sarcastic comment, meaning the opposite, as getting fined is generally not considered a positive experience. Furthermore, language play can have an alluding aspect, referring to taboo subjects which tend to not be spoken about or that require to be more innocently referred to (Schröter, 2005:89), such as using the expression “needing to go to the ladies” as an allusion of needing to use the lavatory. Other aspects of language play are rhymes, half-rhymes, alliteration or repetition (Schröter, 2005:238), of which rhyme is often considered the most easily detectible form of language play, as it requires no pre-existing theoretical knowledge to be understood (Schröter, 2005:292).

The presence of language play is inherently linked to skopos theory, according to Schröter. The skopos of a text is its purpose, as previously discussed under 3.1, and as the presence of language play is intentional, the functions of it must be understood as part of its purpose and therefore its skopos – its “artistic and aesthetic function” should be present in the translation in the form of a functional equivalent (Schröter, 2005:109). Failure to identify the interaction between the reader and writer though language play risks the purpose of the text being lost in the translation to the target language readers (Schröter, 2005:147).

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conversation, as “somebody’s gotta start talking about these things” (Schröter, 2005:223). As the word conversation can be translated directly into the target language, here German, the language play is adapted and remains. Finally, substitution occurs when the language play is of greater importance than the content, i.e. where form takes precedence over function, such as in the case of alliteration (Schröter, 2005:322). For instance, the example Manny the Moody Mammoth translated into Manny den mulliga mammuten is shown to emphasize the language play rather than the characteristics applied by the adjective used – which according to Schröter has no former correspondent in the target language anyway (Schröter, 2005:323). Typically, adaptation is the preferred strategy, where the language play is directly transferred to the target language; however, in some instances the occurrence of language play is more important than the meaning, and in most cases, creative solutions are considered preferable to omission or copying (Schröter, 2005:117). Additionally, it could be argued that producing poor wordplay in a translation is worse than omitting it (Offord, 1997:258).

3.3.2 Allusions

An allusion is an either implied or direct reference to a thing, person or cultural phenomena (OED) and are often used to create a special or additional effect or meaning through the associations or connotations they carry (Leppihalme, 1994:31). This special or additional effect or meaning is often a technique used to imply that there is something in the context of greater importance than what the reader would assume without it. Further, the effect or meaning of the allusion may be of importance for the interpretation of the text as a whole, rather than just the meaning added to the sentence(s) containing the particular allusion (Leppihalme, 1994:35). Allusions are also used parodically or ironically, sometimes to distract or withdraw the reader from the significance or importance of an occurrence or referent in the text (Leppihalme, 1994:38).

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For instance, the stock phrase “not in Kansas anymore”, meaning to find oneself in an unfamiliar or discomfiting environment (Longman), is a reference to the 1939 film Wizard of Oz. Without the pre-existing knowledge of said film, both the joke and the meaning are lost, and the reader is possibly left wondering what a Mid-western U.S. state has to do with the context. The cultural familiarity of the purpose of the allusion in the source text is an imperative aspect of translating said allusion to the target language, as allusions depend on being recognized by the reader. Should the allusion be culturally familiar to target language readers, it can be maintained rather easily (Ruokonen, 2010:39). However, studies have shown that translations not necessarily need to convey the same allusion as the source text, particularly if the allusions are unfamiliar or do not make sense in the target language and culture. In such cases, maintaining the connotative aspects of the allusion through stylistic features may prove a successful technique (Ruokonen, 2010:40). Thus, the allusion can either be adapted as is into the target language, substituted (with or without explanation) or in some instances even completely omitted, (Ruokonen, 2010:39) depending on cultural familiarity of the target audience.

3.3.3 Slang

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The connotative values of slang are often obvious to native speakers but can for other cultures and translators be difficult to define and explain (Nida, 1964:70), and since these slang terms and values often are associated with a particular language and/or culture, as above, a literal translation of them would distort the meaning (Newmark, 1988:95). For instance, sick traditionally and typically means to be ill, physically or mentally unsound, highly distasteful or to vomit – none of which have positive meanings or connotations. However, in its U.S. slang sense, it refers to something being impressive or great (Merriam-Webster; definition 6) and thus means the complete opposite. In the Oxford English Dictionary, this slang sense is not present (OED), and can thus be assumed is a slang expression typical of U.S. culture. Despite the two cultures speaking practically the same language, the slang terms differ based on cultural aspects. Applying this to the translation of slang terms, British English uses the slang term bird meaning ‘girl’ or ‘woman’ rather than the original and chiefly lexical meaning of a ‘feathered vertebrate animal’, where the slang term also originates (OED). Swedish however, does not use this term nor has a word for women and girls derived from its term for feathered vertebrate, fågel, and thus translating the term by its lexical meaning rather than its slang meaning would cause not only confusion but create a whole other context.

There may be occasions where omissions of slang are sometimes necessary, but such instances should be kept to a minimum as to not risk distorting the style of the source text (Légaudaite, 2010:94) and instead slang should be translated by using appropriate linguistic items needed to preserve the original style (Légaudaite, 2010:93). For the above example bird, Swedish has numerous slang expressions for girls and women, such as brutta, pingla, donna etc., and depending on the context and style of the source text, one of these optional terms is likely to convey the intentions of the source text slang term.

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with an equivalent intended meaning but conforming with the values and rules of the target language (Légaudaite, 2010:94, Nord, 1997:35-6). For the purposes of this essay, this represents the translation of a slang term into a corresponding non-slang term in the target language, as seen in Légaudaite’s example of the translation of the slang term bloke, meaning man, into vaikinas, the Lithuanian non-slang term for ‘young man’(Linguee) in order to avoid using slang, which is considered inappropriate in Lithuanian unless necessary as stylistic devices (2010:95). Stylistic compensation can in a sense be connected to aesthetic equivalence, as the strategy focuses on recreating the effect of the source text by means specific to the target language, as a direct translation would constitute loss of meaning due to cultural or linguistic differences (Légaudaite, 2010:95). In the present essay, this constitutes instances where slang has been omitted and substituted by compensatory stylistic equivalents, such as is the translation of the term great used in an ironic-dismissive fashion, intended to mean the opposite (Partington, 1998:135), into Šakės (Légaudaite, 2010:95), a Lithuanian term literally meaning ‘forks’ (Linguee) which in its (now obsolete) English meaning of ‘dilemma’ (OED; definition 13b) conveys the same message without the use of language play. It should be noted that despite the different terms, these three strategies are similar to those previously mentioned, i.e. omission, adaptation and substitution. In order to avoid term confusion, a parallel between the terms is presented in the below table.

Table 3. Relation between terms related to the translation of slang and previously mentioned strategy terms

Strategy Corresponding strategy

Softening Omission

Direct translation Adaptation Stylistic compensation Substitution

4. Analysis

This analysis will be based on the translation of Beyond Heaving Bosoms (2009), as specified in 2.3. The skopos of the source text as well as the equivalence strategies used in the translation will be presented. Thereafter, some examples of particular interest encountered during the translation process will be analysed and later discussed.

4.1 Skopos of translation and determining equivalence strategy

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its skopos is to both entertain and to enlighten. Further, the text attempts to convey the values and importance or romance literature, that is, to convince the reader, making it similar to a sermon or advertisement in intention. Beyond Heaving Bosoms (2009) was therefore determined to be predominately operative and expressive, as the style and tone of the text is equal of not possibly greater importance as its informative message, as the stylistic aspects of the text has an imperative function and cannot be ignored (Schröter, 2005:109). According to Reiss, this would constitute a mainly expressive and operative text type, which corresponds to a combination of correct content and form, however with a preference for the desired effect (see table 2 in section 3.2.4). Thus, despite the title being a factual reference work, the main communicative function of the source text is a blend of expressive and operative. In order to retain the communicative function of expressive and informative texts, a method of dynamic equivalence and equivalence strategies were employed. However, as the text is informative in nature and as no text is inherently of one text type (Reiss, 1989:105), there was an expectation of finding some instances of informative function which would have to be addressed, potentially requiring formal equivalence. However, if formal equivalence is deemed impossible in order to maintain the main communicative function of the text, the desired effect of the idea should be prioritized (Schröter, 2005:108).

4.2 Language play

In the below table, the total number of instances of language play found are presented. Additionally, the distribution of instances used for each translation strategy is presented (Schröter, 2005:114), and an example of each strategy further discussed.

Table 4. Quantitative results of language play

ST Translation strategy

Omission Adaptation Substitution

ST language play 40 6 29 5

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correspondents (Newmark, 1988:118). However, as the two languages cannot be considered exactly the same, there are naturally occurrences of omission and substitution.

4.2.1 Omission

An example of language play which had to be omitted is the use of the word cock in (1).

(1) [P. 150]

And never miss the

opportunity to check out the opening pages of Virginia Henley’s Dream Lover, or The Pirate and the Pagan. You know, if you like cocks and wet salty heads.

Och missa aldrig chansen att kolla in de första sidorna av Virginia Henleys Dream Lover eller The Pirate and the Pagan. Du vet, om du gillar anspelningar och våtstänkta äventyr.

The source text itself was not enough to determine the Swedish equivalent of the word in this particular instance, considering the previous abundance of language play The use of cock for male genitalia simply appeared too crude and direct for a text which has thus far used countless metaphors for intimate parts; having previously used terms as pointed man-spear (Wendell & Tan, 2009:152) and Heroic Wang of Mighty Lovin” (Wendell & Tan, 2009:153) for penis, lovesauce (Wendell & Tan, 2009:144) and mansauce (Wendell & Tan, 2009:145) respectively for intimate bodily fluids, as well as postern of passion (Wendell & Tan, 2009:138) and Magic Hoo Hoo (Wendell & Tan, 2009:143) for female genitals, it seemed more than suspicious that the authors would have chosen a crude and blatant word as cock for the simple reason of describing the male member, as this would constitute a breach of the playful style used for effect throughout the text (Légaudaite, 2010:92).

Furthermore, there is ambiguity due to the fact that the word has two meanings; ‘male fowl’ and ‘penis’ (OED; definitions 1 and 20 respectively) and since the general subject matter has more impact on the word than the sentence in which it stands (Nida, 1964:101), it was determined that the book referenced in the greater context of this sentence needed to be consulted – Virginia Henley’s 1990 novel The Pirate and the Pagan – in order to properly determine the skopos and with that the communicative function of the term.

The first page of the book describes the would-be heroine coming upon a fantastic specimen of cock, admiring and longing for it helplessly. However, as soon as the page turns, it becomes apparent that the word refers to the bird and not the male organ2 – a clever literary trick creating effect from linguistic contrast in a genre which often portrays a lot of sexual and

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sensual content (Partington, 1998:135). With this, it was, as previously suspected, apparent that the use of cock in the source text was a clear reference to this ambiguity of Henley’s, and thus needed to be translated accordingly.

As the ambiguity clearly reflects to an existing piece of literature (which is not translated to Swedish, so there is no reference available) it was determined that the translation could not deviate too far from the original in order to gain the same humorous effect. Therefore, as there is no term in Swedish meaning both ‘rooster’ and ‘penis’, the choice was made to simply refer to the purpose of the use of the ambiguous term; describing the innuendos of Henley’s authorship and the thematic importance of the term and its allusions (Leppihalme, 1994:35) This reduction to sense by making the innuendo overt allows for the untranslatable key phrase to be adapted while retaining the general purpose of its presence (Leppihalme, 1994:101). Therefore, the term anspelningar, meaning ‘innuendo’, was used in order to maintain aesthetic equivalence, in combination with the compensatory measure of creating the effect of the innuendo by an explanatory, straight forward term rather than language play (Schröter, 2005:117) in the operative target text.

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4.2.1 Adaptation

In example (2) the names of fictional heroes created by the authors are used to express the characteristics of said non-existent examples of heroes, and adaptation was employed.

(2) [P. 148]

Let it never be said that we view romance as a set of paint-by-numbers elements meant to be strung repeatedly into a

redundant order, or that writing romance is as easy as finding the necessary pieces and snapping them into place, substituting Lord Bonerhead for Angst the Vampire or Kurt Schlong-Hardass, P.I.

Tro nu inte att vi betraktar romance som en genre bestående av olika befintliga pusselbitar avsedda att sättas ihop upprepade gånger i olika ordning, eller att skrivandet av romance är lika enkelt som att hitta dessa pusselbitar och sätta ihop dem – att helt sonika bara ersätta Baron Kukhuvud med Ångestsson den svåra vampyren eller den hårdkokte privatspanaren Kurt Druleberg.

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4.2.2 Substitution

An instance of language play which was substituted due to aesthetic effect can be seen in (3):

(3) [P. 150]

Sexual autonomy and

expressing honest desire just Wasn’t Done by Nice Girls worthy of a true Happily Ever After; by having their control taken away, the heroines were also exonerated of all moral blame for ultimately becoming sexually active and for

enjoying her sexuality.

Sexuell autonomi och att uttrycka äkta åtrå var bara Inte Något för Fina Flickor som skulle Leva Lyckliga I Alla Sina Dagar, och genom att ta ifrån dem all kontroll

befriades också hjältinnorna från all moralisk skuld i att bli sexuellt aktiva och att njuta av sin sexualitet.

The capitalization of key terms in the source text is done to enhance their importance; for instance, the happy ending is a formal component of the romance genre (Regis, 2007:9, 22). Therefore, the importance of the happy ending is heightened by the use of capitals where there would normally not be any (Schröter 2005:166), a stylistic device used in informal contexts to bring special attention to the message (Trask, 1997, Schröter, 2005:82). The terms for transcendent ideas are often capitalized in order to convey the underlying transcendent experience, as in this case the Happily Ever After (Chicago Style Guide, 2010:893). In (3), not only is the formal transcendent concept of the happy ending capitalized, there is also capitalization in the phrases Wasn’t Done and Nice Girls; this in order to emphasize their importance (Schröter, 2005:82). The heroines in romance novels are often described as annoyingly perfect (Wendell & Tan, 2009:30) and sexually inexperienced until encountering the hero (Wendell & Tan, 2009:31). Hence, the capitalization is done in order to emphasize the characteristics of the genre. With this, the translation strategy employed was substitution, as the capitalization itself is of greater importance than the lexical content, however the references to the genre are required to remain for the emphasis to function as intended and get the message across (Schröter, 2005:166; 323, Koller, 1989:103).

4.3 Slang

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Table 5. Quantitative results of slang terms

ST structure Translation strategy

Direct translation Softening Stylistic compensation

Noun 12 10 1 1 Verb 6 6 0 0 Adjective 7 2 3 2 Adverb 1 0 1 0 Noun phrase 8 4 2 2 Total 34 22 6 6

Notably, 22 out of the 34 slang terms in the text had corresponding slang terms in the target language and could thus be directly translated into these corresponding slang terms. In total, six of the words had lexically corresponding terms in the target language; however, these correspondents were not slang terms and thus the connotative aspects cannot be considered the same, which required a softening strategy. Lastly, six of the slang terms had to be stylistically compensated as there were no corresponding terms, slang or otherwise, in the target language. The prevalence of direct translations is most likely due to the cultural overlap between the source and target culture (Newmark, 1988:94), with the twelve remaining occurrences representing “lexical gaps” (ibid.:42), an inherent universal of all languages.

4.3.1 Direct translation

Examples of slang words directly translated into corresponding target language slang terms include sidekick (Wendell & Tan, 2009:141), bang (ibid.:150), and boink (ibid.:151), all of which are defined as slang in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). All of the above examples were translated directly (Légaudaite, 2010:96); as they have clear definitions and corresponding terms; sidekick is for instance directly borrowed in to Swedish (Svenska Akademiens Ordlista, henceforth SAOL) and the denotative copulative meanings of bang and boink have correspondents in target language terms, further discussed below in examples three and four.

(4) [P. 150]

GOTTA BANG THAT GIRL RIGHT OUTTA MY HEAD

JAG MÅSTE PIPPA DEN DÄR BRUDEN UR SKALLEN

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(5) [P. 151]

He’s obsessed with her and wants to boink her like

madness, but figures id he does so and, you guessed it, “gets it out of his system”, he’ll be able to move on and forget her, no longer plagued by thoughts of this infuriating woman.

Han är besatt av henne och vill dunka på henne som om det inte fanns en morgondag, men tänker samtidigt att om han gör det, som du redan gissat, så ”får han henne ur skallen”. Han

kommer kunna gå vidare och glömma henne, och inte längre plågas av tankar på denna oerhört retsamma kvinna.

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reference to sexual intercourse. Thus, pippa was determined to be the best alternative despite the loss of connotative values (Nida, 1964:163, Légaudaite, 2010:96).

In example (5), the term boink, defined as a slang term for sexual intercourse (OED; definition 2) is used. As the term is not described as having any connotations to violence or, an opportunity to convey the sense lost in (4) presented itself. A phrase which occurred in the previous search for alternatives to knulla was dunka, which is described as a derogatory term for the male’s sexual performance, having sex with a woman in a conquering manner; not an action performed by a woman (Slangopedia) and hence is faithful both to the vulgarity and the context of the source language (Légaudaite, 2010:93). The translation of bang and boink are thus, in reference to the above table, directly translated into corresponding, pre-existing slang terms in the target language, producing a similar effect (Newmark, 1988:31) and expressing similar connotative values (Newmark, 1988:98, Nida, 1964:166, Légaudaite, 2010:96).

4.3.2 Softening

An example of a slang term with a corresponding non-slang term in the target language is (6):

(6) [P. 149]

Pun totally intended. Definitivt avsedd ordvits.

The word totally, here used in a slang sense (Urban Dictionary) modifies the verb intended, meaning ‘definitely’. The reason for the term being classified as slang in this instance is due to the overall colloquial tone of the text, and in the sentence in which it occurs, referring to a pun. The demographics of the text also play a part; in the US, the term is a colloquial and cultural term (OED). The use of the cultural term rather than its synonym definitely is therefore used intentionally (Schröter, 2005:109), even though definitely in some instances also can be seen as colloquial, but is most commonly used in a sarcastic manner when operating as slang (Urban Dictionary) and therefore does not suit the tone of the particular instance, to emphasize the intention of the pun, in the same manner as totally.

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4.3.3 Stylistic compensation

A challenging example of slang with no corresponding term of any kind presents itself in (7). The example includes a culturally specific rhyming construction appearing in the noun phrase pleasure schmeasure: the shm-prefix (also spelled schm- and shm-) is derived from the initial sound of slang words originating from Yiddish (Gold, 2009:251, Thorne, 2014:388, OED).

(7) [P. 141]

And pleasure schmeasure: during the rape, especially the firs several times it occurs, the heroine rarely feels pleasure.

Och njuta? Sluta. Under våldtäkten, särskilt de första gångerna en sådan sker, känner hjältinnan sällan njutning.

This productive prefix is characterized by its dismissive, mocking or negating tone (Southern, 2005:38, Thorne, 2014:388). The typical use of the shm-prefix is through repetition of a word, inserting the shm-prefix before the vowel sound of the first syllable of the second word in the phrase, creating a nonsense-word rhyming with the first; syllable, shmyllable (OED). The use of the shm-prefix has been noted in use since the early 20th century (OED), and the ironic-dismissive shm-pairs are considered fully integrated in general American English since around the middle of the same century (Southern, 2005:23). Due to the borrowed term becoming an established productive device in the English language, it has its own dynamic and can be used with extended innovation (Gold, 2009:249).

As the shm-prefix or corresponding prefix or structure is not generally found in Swedish, although it has gained some traction, mostly online, in expressions such as job schmobb (Geyerhofer, 2007 and plugga schmugga (Reslegård, 2011), it was determined that the prefix should be omitted. However, as one of the principle themes of the ironic-dismissive shm-pairs is rhyming (due to the repetition of the first word), the rhyming and therefore poetic function of the phrase could be translated by the use of stylistic compensation.

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As the word pleasure literally translates to njutning, this became the first option. The word rhymes with the Swedish word slutning, which means ceasing to do something (SAOB), a nominalized synonym of the verb sluta, meaning ‘to stop’ (SAOB). However, the dictionary entries for the noun showed it to be quite archaic; most of the occurrences in the example sentences provided were from the 17th, 18th and 19th century, with the most recent example from 1955, and the word does not at all occur in Svensk Ordbok (the more comprehensive, current version of the dictionary, with around 65 000 entries compared to SAOB’s impressive 500 0003). Thus, in order to use a word more in line with the general tone and contemporary and humorous style of the text, the verb form sluta was determined a better choice; particularly so as it rhymes with the verb form of njutning; njuta.

In order to also incorporate the mocking and dismissive aspects of the shm-construction in a manner more suitable for the target audience, the aesthetic equivalence method of stylistic compensation was continuously the most appropriate strategy (Légaudaite, 2010:95). By using a question construction with an imperative dismissive answer, the effects of the shm-construction in the source text were aesthetically mirrored. Thus, the target text back translated reads “And pleasure? Stop.”, which reflects the sense and tone but in a manner the target audience understands clearly, as well as keeping the aesthetic aspects of the rhyming function – maintaining the stylistic effect through the strategy of substitution and constructing a passage hinting at the source text connotations (Leppihalme, 1994:101, Chiaro 1992:92).

4.4 Allusions & cultural references

In the source text there are several allusions and references to cultural phenomena, as shown in the table below. One example of each transaction strategy used will follow, with the examples of cultural features and references following those of allusions. As the only occurrences of omission and substitution of cultural reference present themselves in the same sentence, these will be consolidated in the analysis, with adaptation to conclude this section.

Table 6. Quantitative results of allusions and cultural references

ST structure Translation strategy

Omission Adaptation Substitution

Allusions 8 1 5 2

Cultural references 5 1 3 1

Total 13 2 8 3

3_{The two differ in the same manner as the Oxford English Dictionary, OED, with more than 600 000 entries, and The Oxford}

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4.4.1 Omission of allusion

In the first example in this category, birds and beetles is translated as fåglar and skalbaggar:

(8) [P. 136]

Birds do it. Beetles do it. Even alpha asshole heroes do it. Let’s do it – let’s rape the girl!

Fåglar gör det. Skalbaggar gör det. Och alfahannehjältar som är rövhål gör det. Vi gör det – vi våldtar henne!

The allusion in (8) refers to Ella Fitzgerald’s’ 1958 song Let’s do it (let’s fall in love), which initial lyrics are “Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it, let's do it, let's fall in love” (Porter, 1928). Additionally, this is a love song. The purpose of alluding to a love song to describe this quite appalling behaviour is to de-dramatize the subject and introduce the attitude the genre previously held regarding the subject of rape (Schröter, 2005:89), manipulating the reader into entertainment through ironic parody (Leppihalme, 1994:38).

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However, maintaining the allusion here was determined to be impossible, as the song even in its original language does not comprise a clear cultural reference in the target language, due to differences between source and target culture, rendering the allusion lost on the target language readers due to the lack of required pre-existing knowledge (Newmark, 1988:91). In addition to this, the informative aspect added of the footnote was determined to be of greater importance than the expressive form of the allusion.

4.4.2 Adaptation of allusion

Another example of allusion is the phrase “when, oh when”, which perhaps does not come across as allusion at first:

(9) [P. 148]

When, oh when, does the good sexxoring start?

Så när, åh när, börjar det bra sexandet?

However, when looking into the phrase, it becomes clear that this is an expression used frequently in poetry and to express longing and wishful thinking, and has been in use for several hundred years (Adams, 2010:51, Bennit, 1666:6, Mathison, 2009:41–3, Parsons, 1822:28), however perhaps made most famous by the 1963 song When, oh When by Gary and the Pacemakers of You’ll Never Walk Alone fame).

In order to convey these connotations, it would have to be determined if this expression or an equivalent alternative existed in the target language. An online search for the term yielded several results, indicating the term to be not as common in Swedish, although used recently in the same manner, alluding to dreams, poetry, or wishful thinking (Atladottir, 2013, McCabe, 2012:9). One instance consists of a previously translated romance novel, indicating that the expression occurs in the genre to which the source text refers (McCabe, 2012). Therefore, the allusion could be adapted as per the principles of dynamic equivalence into the source text through its cultural equivalent term (Newmark, 1989:91, Nida, 1964:166).

4.4.3 Substitution of allusion

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(10) [P. 138]

Ultimately, Krentz comparison using private eyes would be analogous to the typical rape scenario in romance novels only if the dangerous dame had tied the hero as he’s kicked and screamed and struggled, then donned a strap-on and showed him a good deal of what-what in the butt, all while the private eye wept and felt humiliated because he had a hard-on.

Krentz jämförelse med privat-spanare skulle egentligen bara vara jämförbar med det typiska våldtäktsscenariot i romance-romaner om ovan nämnda femme fatale bundit fast hjälten medan han sparkade, skrek och kämpade emot, dragit på en strap-on och satt den rätt upp i daimkrysset på privatspanaren samtidigt som han grät och kände sig förnedrad för att han hade bånge.

The purpose of the sentence is to illuminate the difference between the rapes portrayed for various reasons in the romance genre with the seduction of private investigators of thrillers or crime novels by portraying anal rape in a less offensive and frightening manner; “tricking the taboo” (Schröter, 2005:89) in a relatively safe manner. By using less offensive terminology and references, the readers’ response is manipulated (Schröter, 2005:89) and the importance of the rape is somewhat downplayed in a parodical manner in order to distract the reader from its cruelty (Leppihalme, 1994:38). Therefore, the effect on the reader is the most imperative aspect to consider in translating the operative sentence, and in particular the present allusion, thus requiring aesthetic equivalence in the translation.

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to be an appropriate term for the context, as it shows humour and language play. However, after a corpus search, this alternative was disregarded due to the connotative and cultural features of the term, as discussed below.

The term prutt yielded 17,948 results in the corpus (Korp). Since analysing all hits would be out of the scope for this study, the first 1,000 were scrutinized for connotations. A mere 21 referred to anuses, and the lion’s share referred to metabolic gas. Additionally, in the target language, many instances used the word as a slang term for babies or small children, making this meaning of the term a cultureme (Nord, 1997:34) which was decided should be nowhere near references to anal sex. Therefore, a local cultural reference of humorous allusion of an anal intercourse was sought, as the effect and message of the allusion are of greater importance in the context than the lexical items (Koller, 1989:103, Leppihalme, 1994:101, Ruokonen, 2010:40).)

The Swedish slang term daimkryss is a metaphorical term for the anus, alluding to the popular ice cream Daimstrut (GB Glace, 2019), as the dessert is considered to resemble the body part when viewed from above (Slangopedia). A corpus search yielded a mere 96 results, however all of these referenced anuses and predominately in the context of sexual activity, and with these connotative aspects this was deemed the better alternative for the context. The term was coupled then with a verb phrase stating that the previously mentioned strap-on was inserted into the daimkryss. The source text allusion was thus entirely omitted and substituted for another alluding to the same action, excluding the source culture in order to emphasize the intended message (Newmark, 1989;96, Schröter, 2005:61)

The term hard-on, meaning ‘erection’, is classified as both a slang term and a lexical term (OED), depending on if the term is an adjective or a noun. However, for the purposes of this study, the slang aspect will be considered most relevant due to the context, even if the term functions as a noun. In translating this term and maintaining the slang and contextual aspects, a target language term for erection was determined most faithful to the source (Légaudaite, 2010:93). Therefore, in order to acquire a corresponding slang term, several alternatives found at Swedish slang dictionary website Slangopedia were analysed through a corpus search.

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each term in the corpus, the number of contextual occurrences, i.e. corpus search results in which the term referred to a penis-related action, out of the first 1,000 hits, and finally the percentage of contextual occurrences among the first 1,000 hits.

Table 7. Korp corpus hits for slang terms referring to erection

Term Number of occurrences Contextual occurrences Contextual occurrences (%)

Bånge 2,157 1,000 100%

Ribba 8,508 11 1.1%

Ståfräs 2,194 979 97.9%

Stånd 279,726 72 0.72%

Notable is that stånd is far more common in the corpus than any of the other terms yet has less than one percent of its occurrences match the context. This is due to the word stand meaning a multitude of things depending on context and collocates, such as ‘plant’, ‘market stand’, ‘social groups’ etc. (SAOL). Further, the term is not really considered slang, but rather an accepted, every day, less clinical term for erection (SAOL, definition 2.4). Therefore, the effect of using a word chiefly meaning erection would be lost. Ribba accounted for four times the hits of bånge and ståfräs, yet much like stånd had a very low contextual percentage rate. An overwhelming majority of the hits referred to a sports crossbar (SAOL), or the frame by the name Ribba sold by furniture giant IKEA (IKEA, 2019). This left bånge and ståfräs as alternatives which with their high percentage rates in the corpus clearly corresponded to the source slang term. The instances where ståfräs did not refer to a male gender were due to some language users having referred to either erect nipples or hairs standing on their bodies, which could be considered “close enough” to the contextual sense of the source. However, as bånge most definitely had the intended meaning and suited the colloquial tone, it was considered the most dynamically equivalent option; maintaining both form and function (Nida, 1964:159, Leppihalme, 1994:31, Légaudaite, 2010:93).

4.4.4 Omission and substitution of cultural reference

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(11) [P. 143]

The readers occupy a superior position; they know that the heroine is wrong, and that happiness and orgasms will burst forth like veritable Care Bears Stares, except with more jiggly bits, by the end of the book.

Läsaren har en överlägsen ställning; hen vet att hjältinnan har fel och att i slutet av boken kommer både lycka och orgasmer att dyka upp lika garanterat som nakenchocker i Mello.

The Care Bears, known in Sweden as Krambjörnarna, is an animated children’s program originating in the 1980s. Even though the show was available in Sweden during its heyday, it is no longer a frequently occurring reference, as can be seen by its prevalence in Korp below.

Table 8. Korp corpus hits for Care Bears and Krambjörnarna

Search term Number of occurrences in Korp

Care Bears 83

Krambjörnarna 142

Therefore, the reference to the Care Bears Stare, which is a magical ray radiating from the characteristic symbol, or “belly badge” on the stomachs of the Care Bears (Care Bears Fandom), was determined to narrow for the target culture and would not be considered neither entertaining or logical (Schröter, 2005:62, Chiaro, 1992:10, Ruokonen, 2010:39).) and therefore required omission. Since the purpose of the reference is to describe a magical, happy occurrence, a reference to the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, or Mello, i.e. the Swedish qualifiers to the Eurovision Song Contest, was made instead (Koller, 1989:103, Newmark, 1989:82-3). The glamorous, glittery competition often referred to as ‘the festival of the people’, (Melodifestivalen, 2019) dominates every media outlet during its annual six week run and is broadcast by the national public broadcast channel Sveriges Television as well as online and therefore available for those without other entertainment channels. A corpus search for the term, both in its full and its abbreviated form, was performed as per the below table.

Table 9. Korp corpus hits for mello and melodifestivalen

Search term Number of occurrences in Korp

Melodifestivalen 29,091

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In comparison to the humbler Care Bears and Krambjörnarna results, both forms of the music competition proved far more frequent, and thus was determined to be an adequate and more easily accessible substitutional reference. As the full name had fewer hits and the general tone of the text is colloquial, the abbreviation was determined to be the most suitable option.

The translation of the culturally specific term jiggly bits proved helped by the use of Mello as a cultural reference in (11). This slang term, referring to gender or body parts such as women’s breasts, particularly in a sexual context, referring to the movement occurring in said body parts during intercourse (Urban Dictionary)4 and is a culture-specific term, i.e. has no corresponding term in the target language or culture (Newmark, 1989:74). Therefore, the sense of the term would have to be adapted and the source culture references foregone (Newmark, 1989;96, Schröter, 2005:61). In the target culture, the infamous Lill Lindfors skirt coup of 1985, during which she pretended to lose her skirt only to reveal a hidden replacement, har been associated with the term nakenchocker, meaning ‘nude shocks’, that is, shockingly unexpected displays of nudity or bareness (Popmani, 2016). The cultureme nakenchock itself was not coined until 2002, however once it was, this was in direct conjunction to the Mello festival and the risqué attire of the singers of the winning contribution (Melodifestival Special, 2014, Nord, 1997:34). Following this, the term and the phenomenon is practically expected in the competition every year, and the expression ‘this year’s nude shock, originally “årets nakenchock”, (Nyberg, 2013) is commonly used. The term was therefore researched in the corpus.

Table 10. Korp corpus hits for nakenchock and connection to mello/melodifestivalen

Search term Number of occurrences in Korp Number of occurrences relating to mello/melodifestivalen

Nakenchock 731 71

The search revealed 731 hits, with over 70 of these connected to the music festival. As this is quite a high percentage, almost 10%, and as the term originates from said festival, it was determined not only a suitable aesthetic equivalent to the movements of sexual activity, but also a strategy for creating a more solid target culture reference; a specific cultural reference out of a more general source culture reference (Newmark, 1989:91, Schröter, 2005;120, 180).

4_{Notable here is that the Urban Dictionary is not a dictionary regulated by any linguistic governing body but a user-based}

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4.4.5 Adaptation of cultural reference

The final example (12), concerns a cultural reference adapted into the target text due to the cultural overlap between the two cultures (Newmark, 1989:94, Ruokonen, 2010:39):

(12) [P. 151]

Magic Hoo Hoos are like Pringles: once he’s popped, he can’t stop.

Magiska Fifis är som Pringles: once you pop, you can’t stop.

The reference to potato chip brand Pringles, and its famous slogan "Once you pop, you can't stop" (Choi, 2012) although with a modified pronoun and verb to suit the concept of “popping a cherry”, i.e. breaking the hymen through intercourse (Urban dictionary). Further, the term ‘Pringles theory’, coined by Michael LaFerney, is connected to the allusion. Named after the Pringles slogan, the theory states that the longer a person waits to lose their virginity, the more they will actively seek sexual activity once said virginity has been lost (Urban dictionary); as the heroines of romance typically lose their virginity to the hero and then develop magnificent, everlasting sex (Wendell & Tan, 2009:153). However, as there is no reference to breaking a hymen with the same connection to popping in Swedish, this aspect of the cultural reference had to be foregone (Ruokonen, 2010:39, Schröter, 2005:39). However, the original Pringles slogan was used in English worldwide, typical for culturally related advertisements (Newmark, 1989:82), and was therefore considered suitable for adaptation into the source culture since the reference overlaps the target culture (Newmark, 1989:124); or as in this case, adaptation by use of the original slogan as referenced in the source text, creating the same effect in relation to the continuous sexual activity (Chiaro, 1992:92).

5 Conclusion

The aim of the present essay was to examine the factors which affect the choices made between different translation strategies in the translation of a colloquial and expressive-operative source text featuring complex cultural language aspects and allusions. Further, the research performed in this essay aimed at analysing the manner in which cultural differences between source and target culture affect the translations of these language aspects. The strategies employed were based on skopos theory and aimed at creating a translation equivalent in purpose as the source text.

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research connects a certain communicative text function to a particular translation method and form of equivalence, the culture specific values of language and allusion do not adhere to these strict correlative relations. A single form of equivalence or translation strategy cannot be employed, and an adequate translation thereafter be expected; knowledge of both languages, cultural differences, language play and differences in vocabulary are imperative in determining the skopos of not just the text as a whole but independent sentences and terms. However, the results indicate that the cultural closeness between source and target language affect the strategies used; as seen in the analysis, the source and target culture overlap and thus have many corresponding language features, making direct translation and adaptation frequent in the present translation. It is possible that in a translation into a target cultures with less of an overlap, other strategies would be more prevalent. House states that equivalence is a relative concept in each particular translation (1997:25), which the results of this essay indicate apply for strategies and the understanding of cultural features and aspects as well.

It is possible that the term “untranslatable” has arisen from instances where these aspects were not taken into account and researched properly, or the purposes of said phenomena understood; “when a comic situation is too culture-specific it will not be seen as amusing outside the culture of origin” (Chiaro, 1992:10). Newmark remarks on his own use of ‘untranslatable’ as a term for words which have no “obvious one-to-one translations” (Newmark, 1988:118), presenting a sort of “lexical gap in the target language” (Newmark, 1988:117) but not one denoting an impossibility of transferring the source text meaning. Thus, it could be argued that the concept of untranslatability is closely connected to the concept of formal equivalence and direct translation, where a literal translation would distort the meaning (Newmark, 1988:95); however, as has been shown in this essay, several aspects of language adhere to the principles of form rather than function and therefore dynamic and aesthetic equivalence. As these forms of equivalence focus on conveying the message and emotive purpose of the source text rather that the exact words (Koller, 1989:102– 3, Newmark, 1988:98), the concept of untranslatability cannot be said to apply, as there is no requirement of lexical transfer, but that of sense (Nida, 1964:159) and reader reaction (Reiss, 1989:109).

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another translation strategy may render the purpose of the text lost in translation (Schröter, 2005:147).

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References

Primary Text

Wendell, Sarah & Tan, Candy. 2009. Beyond Heaving Bosoms. The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels. New York: Touchtone/Fireside.

Secondary Texts

Chiaro, Delia. 1992. The Language of Jokes: Analysing Verbal Play. London: Routledge.

Falcon, Rafael. 1998. Salsa: A Taste of Hispanic Culture. Westport: Praeger Publishers.

Forster, Franz. 1968. Studien zum Wesen von Komik, Tragik und Humor: Das Humorspiel als Dramenart. Wien: Notring.

Gold, David Louis. 2009. Studies in Etymology and Etiology: with Emphasis on Germanic, Jewish, Romance and Slavic Languages. Alicante: Publicacions Universitat Alacant.

Hartston, William. 2007. The Encyclopedia of Useless Information. Chicago: Sourcebooks.

House, Juliane. 1997. Translation Quality Assessment: A Model Revisited. Tübingen: Narr.

Koller, Werner 1989. Equivalence in translation theory. Chesterman, Andrew (editor), Readings in Translation Theory. Helsinki: Oy Finn Lectura Ab.

Légaudaite, Jolanta. 2010. Understanding Slang in Translation: Filologia, No. 15. Retrieved February 9, 2019 from

http://www.su.lt/bylos/mokslo_leidiniai/filologija/2010_15/legaudaite.pdf.

Lemm, Elaine. 2019. A Brief History and Types of British Tea. The Spruce Eats. Retrieved March 8, 2019 from https://www.thespruceeats.com/history-and-types-of-british-tea-435180

Leppihalme, Ritva. 1994. Culture Bumps. An Empirical Approach to the Translation of Allusions. Bristol: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

Newmark, Peter. 1988. A Textbook of Translation. New York: Prentice Hall.