Translating Idiomatic Expressions in Literary Texts Saving the Pragmatic Meaning

Abstract

This paper investigates a problematic issue in many texts, particularly literary, that is of rendering hidden pragmatic meanings of idiomatic expressions into the TL. In order to arrive at the best strategy to do so from the perspective of the TL audience, in this case native speakers of English, the researcher provided the targeted audience with multiple translations of a single idiomatic expression, in context, and asked them to choose the best suiting translation from their point of view. Baker's strategies for translating idioms was the framework adopted for this study (Baker, 2018). The findings emphasized the importance of conveying the pragmatic meaning of idiomatic expressions with reservation of the aesthetic elements of the text. They also suggested that pragmatic and cultural highlights, in addition to translation strategies curricula, should be part of translation training programs.