Theory of Translation 1 Introduction

2.8 Translating Literary Texts 
Creating a literary text is different from other language activities. A text performs 
various functions like expressive, informative and directive. Normally all these 
functions are imbibed in every text though one of them is always dominant over 
others. If the expressive function gets priority in a text, it becomes a piece of literature 
which is very different from other texts in several ways. 
Literary texts are of different kinds as they adhere particularly to the norms of 
metaphorical, semantic and stylistic innovation. The form, content and mode of 
expression are significant in literary texts. A literary writer makes use of various 
resources of a language in a large measure (e. g. polysemy, word-play, sound effect, 
meter, rhyme, etc.). He invents metaphors, creates images and uses language in his 
individualistic manner. Many times, the selected form of a literary work is also 
suggestive. In such cases, form and content are not distinct, as Widdowson puts it: 
An understanding of what literature communicates necessarily involves an 
understanding of how it communicates. What and how are not distinct. It is for 
this reason that literary works cannot be satisfactorily paraphrased or explained 
by any single interpretation (70). 
Hence, not only the ‘content’ but the ‘mode’ of expression is also of vital importance 
in literary texts. The denotations of a word normally come before its connotations in a 
non-literary text, but precedence is given to connotations in literary texts. The 
connotative language has an emotive appeal and is used in all the genres of literature. 
However, the use of language is marked by some differences.

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Literature reflects the way of life, the vision of the world and the cultural values of the 
linguistic community speaking that language. Due to the connotative nature of the 
language, a literary translator faces many problems. There occurs multiplicity of 
meaning due to the evocative and expressive nature of language. In translation, 
meaning tends to get lost because of the difficulty in finding synonymous expressions. 
A translator has to be concerned with the linguistic and non-linguistic elements of a 
literary text. The linguistic aspects are features related to literary language. They are 
sound patterns, symbols, imagery and ideas etc. The non-linguistic aspects deal with 
setting as reflected in locale time, mood, atmosphere created by dance, music, 
painting, audio-visual aids etc.
In literary translation, the translator has to decode the motive of the SL text and re-
encode the same in the TL text. The problems increase due to the continually 
changing nature of language which results in linguistic indeterminacy. The ‘text’ 
carries a great deal of linguistic and cultural significance which needs to be rendered 
into the target language text. The distinct genres or forms of literature create diverse 
problems as far as translation in the corresponding forms is concerned. For example, 
the problems the translator faces in translating a novel are different from the problems 
involved in the translation of poetry or drama. In the subsequent sections, issues in 
translation related to the different genres are discussed.