Identification of translation procedures for culture specific items in a short story

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze cultural items in the short story Falaka by Ömer Seyfettin based on Newmark’s (2010) revised categorization of culture specific items and find out the translation procedures used to translate those culture specific items based on Newmark’s (2010) basic cultural translation procedures. In the analysis of the source text, 31 contexts were found to include culture specific items. Of those culture specific items, ten were categorized as “social lifeâ€; nine were categorized as “personal lifeâ€; five were categorized as “customs and pursuitsâ€; four were categorized as “private passionsâ€; two were categorized as ecology; one was categorized as “public life†based on Newmark’s (2010) terms. The analysis of the translation of those 31 contexts showed that “target language cultural equivalent†procedure was used in 22 contexts; “transference†was used in four contexts; “componential analysis†was used in three contexts; “descriptive equivalent†was used in two contexts. It was concluded that no two cultures can be the same and translation of culture specific items into a new culture is sure to bring some sort of tension created by the gap between those two cultures. However, literary translators are not helpless in translating literary works interwoven with cultural items. Translation procedures could help translators in making informed decisions in translation of culture specific items during the translation process.