Loss Of Stylistic Effect In Literary Translation And The Extreme Notion Of Impossibility Of A Faithful Translation

The causes of stylistic difficulties in literary translation emerge, in fact, from the twofold character of the work: the translator of a literary text is carrying out a double task; he is not only translating linguistic signs but also conveying their socio-cultural connotations. The translator’s task, then, as Halliday (1970:4-5) explains “involves the difficult task of focussing attention simultaneously on the actual and potential, interpreting both discourse and the linguistic system that lies behind it in terms of the infinitely complex network of meaning potential that is what we call the culture”