Intercultural translation, or How to translate realia? A.P. Chekhov “The Death of a Government Clerk”: A translation-analysis

Abstract

Translating realia is one of the most challenging tasks of a translator, these elements have connotative meaning in the source language and culture, that is missing in target language and culture as well. This article is devoted to analize Hungarian and English translation of realia in the well known novel of A.P. Chekhov The Death of a Government Clerk. More focus is given to translators’ intercultural competence and background knowledge, they have to transfer source text with all its culture-bound elements and with the use of unique strategies, minimize as far as possible the loss of the cultural effects, and bring as more as possible culture-specific items to target language.