CAN A TRANSLATION BE BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL?
Keywords:
Translation superiority, literary adaptation, translation vs. original, reception theory, fidelity and creativity, cultural mediation, translator agency, ideological repositioning, stylistic transformation, translational authorship.Abstract
That translations can never chiefly be with sources is an assumption that reigned over the field of study on translations for centuries. But present-day theoretical as well as practical comprehension defies the assumption, reflecting that under certain situations, translations can be superior, re-interpret, complete the original in effect, readability, as well as cultural appropriateness. The article reflects on the debate with contemporary approaches of translation, past case studies, as well as narratives of situations under which, why, as well as when a translation can be assessed as "better" than the original. The debate is extended with consideration of ethics as well as aesthetic boundaries of such translations as well as reflecting on the effect of audiences' expectations, purpose, as well as cultural distance on notions of value as well as of success.
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