TRANSLATION STRATEGIES FOR RENDERING REALIA

Abstract

This article investigates the strategies employed in translating realia — culture-specific lexical items that denote objects, practices or phenomena tied to a particular cultural context. The study begins by defining realia, examining their role and significance in translation, and explores the major challenges they pose to translators. Using a qualitative comparative approach, the paper analyses a corpus of selected realia from literary and non-literary texts and identifies key strategies such as retention (borrowing), calque, descriptive translation (explicitation), adaptation (cultural substitution), omission and addition. The findings show that no single strategy suffices in all cases; translators frequently employ a combination of strategies depending on the cultural distance, target audience expectations and the translation purpose. The article concludes by proposing pedagogical and practical recommendations for translators and translation educators working with realia.