The Efficacy and Creativity of Literal Translation: A Case of Nepali EFL Student Translators

Translation scholarship abounds in strong views against literal translation, questioning its viabi lity and creativity. The present paper problematizes the relegation of literal translation and makes a case for its viability in the translation of literary texts. To this end, the paper analyzes 600 culture- bound and collocational expressions extracted from a corpus of thirty Nepali short stories in English translation carried out by Nepali EFL student translators. The findings demonstrate the accuracy of literally trans lated expressions and further illustrate the creative potential of literal translation. Finally, the study points out the necessity of incorporating literal translation as a viable strategy in translation pedagogy.