Translatability of idioms – getting the best of both texts [articol]

Abstract

The paper focuses on the use of idiomatic language as epitomizing cultural stereotypes and the problem of fidelity in literary translation. It is common knowledge that idioms are specific to every culture and may lack direct equivalents in the target language. The paper enlarges upon two main problems associated with the translatability of idioms: how to comprehend the connotation of idioms in the source language, and how to reconstruct conceptually and structurally these idioms in the target language, sometimes changing referents while conveying the same meaning and the writer’s stylistic effect.