Literary translation

Literary translation

This is one of the most complex translation types. The translator must understand the author’s concept and the characters’ motives, see the hidden plot twists, and be familiar with the historical and cultural context in which the author worked. A literary translation that only accurately conveys the meaning is simply not good enough. The translator must convey the writer’s style, the feeling, character, humor and the mood of the text.

Compared to its technical counterpart literary translation is more about a free rendering of the author’s narrative. Translators must work with metaphors, idioms or words of modern coinage that do not accept a word for word translation. If the text contains a word play, the translator’s task is to adapt it to the cultural and intellectual background of the future readers.

The translator’s objective is to create a new oeuvre that reads like the original one.

What kinds of texts we translate

Literary translation covers translation of:

• novellas, stories, novels,
• sketches, publications, literary critique,
• brochures and factual books,
• advertising materials that need to convey the literary content,
• fictional materials of magazines and newspaper articles.

Pricing

The price of literary translation depends on the specific opus.