Idiom as a Translation Technique: a Theorical Postulate

Abstract

In Translation Studies, the idiom is usually viewed as an important constitutive component of the source text and a possible translation problem. Several strategies and techniques of rendering idioms have been developed and discussed, and a plethora of research is focused on the ways in which selected source text idioms are rendered in the target texts. However, despite the fact that idioms frequently appear in target texts as counterparts of non-idiomatic source text expressions, the idiom has not found recognition as a valid translation technique so far and is not listed as such in relevant literature. In this paper, I will argue that it deserves this status. Although the research is based upon pure idioms, the validity of the postulate can be claimed for other types of idioms too. The material analysed was retrieved from the novels The great Gatsby by F.S. Fitzgerald and Death on the Nile by A. Christie and two German renditions of each.