Danytė, Milda. Lithuanian translations of Canadian literature. The translation of cultural realia. Darbai ir dienos 2006 Nr. 45, p. 195-213.

Summary:

Many recent approaches to translation have been dominated by the concept that translation is not only a linguistic process but also a cultural one. Indeed, the cultural elements of a source text are often more resistant to translation than linguistic ones. In a detailed study of the translation of cultural allusions, Ritva Leppihalme (1997) remarks on the complexity of the issues raised by such references: Allusions require a high degree of biculturalism of receivers in order to be understood across a cultural barrier. It has been accepted for some time that translators need to be not just bilingual but bicultural in order to fully understand the ST [source text] and to be able to transmit it to the target audience. But what about the TT [target text] readers? Is it realistic to expect them to be bicultural also? (1997:4) Translated texts are windows to other worlds for their readers, but it is utopian to assume that these windows can ever be made completely transparent. Yet it is also undeniable that readers form impressions of foreign cultures through their reading of translated literature. In addition, curiosity about one culture or another is often part of the motivation for reading a translated literary text.