Literary Translation Services
Today the world has almost no boundaries, and literature strives to follow suit. Literary translations are in high demand as people are looking for universal acclaim.
Our team of literary translators consists of people who appreciate the taste of a good piece of literature and can help you share it with potential readers of the translated text. Literary translation services are more about art than business, but we attempt to combine both of them. We understand that you need your translation according to a reasonable schedule, so there is no time to wait for the muse for a long time.
Our literary translators know how to keep company with the muses, and you will have your high-quality text delivered on time – even if this is a lengthy book that takes several months to translate.
Professional Literary Translation
- On the one hand, it contains words that are combined to create sentences – much the same as in any other translation.
- On the other hand, those sentences create images, sometimes very complex ones. And the translator’s job is to perceive the author’s rich imagery and render it in another language as intact as possible. And this is sometimes a really hard thing to do.
The author usually has the intention to say something to the reader, and this intention should remain in the translated text along with the information contained in sentences. And, of course, the translator should have enough linguistic, artistic, and literary proficiency to understand that intention correctly. It’s more like flair that each literary translator should have.
If we look at it from the scientific point of view, the definition of literary translation goes like this: the text in the target language should produce the same effect on the reader as the text in the source language (on the condition that the readers are native speakers of the respective language). That’s exactly what the literary translator should do.
Book Translation
We at HumanTranslation help authors render their books in another language to reach out to a wider audience.
The hardest task for the translator here is to see the book as a whole, and in this case, each sentence will be translated as part of this “whole”. Otherwise, if we just translate sentence by sentence, the book will not produce the desired impression, or it will be much weaker than the original.
If you know several languages, you’ve probably come across a weak translation that cannot be compared with the original in terms of the impression produced. And even if you know only one language, you probably know that books are often translated by several translators, and only one of them becomes more popular.
We work with the best translators in the field to ensure that your book is translated as a whole piece, and the text reads really well.
⮚Play on words and other stylistic devices
It is the translator’s art to render as much of this in the target text as possible! For instance, in English we say “wet as a drowned mouse”, and in Ukrainian, you should say “wet as a strong rain”. Which option to use if you translate in this language pair? Well, that’s a hard question, and it usually depends on the context very much.
⮚ Proper nouns
You probably heard of names that have a hidden meaning in them, and it is often quite hard to translate such names into a foreign language. They should somehow resonate with the whole, and this is the task solved by the translator using all his potential and skills.
⮚Terminology
Science fiction authors usually invent some things for their setting, which makes the translators sweat a lot before they find a suitable equivalent that sounds good and does not jar on the ear in the particular context.
⮚Consistency
If you are translating a part of a sequel, be sure to keep the proper names and other vocabulary used in the translation of the previous part. Otherwise, change in names may cause a lot of confusion to the reader. It’s like changing the whole cast in your favorite TV series overnight!
⮚Hints in the text
The best situation looks as follows: the translator has access to the whole text, and he or she reads the book in its entirety before the start of translation. Why is that important? Well, the author likes to heat up expectations by hinting at something at the start, and it may be too vague for the translator to translate it properly. And it is much easier to do so if you know how things will turn out afterward!
⮚Cultural issues
The cultural nuances make it really hard for the translator to evoke the same feelings in representatives of the target society! You probably know that there are some words that cannot be properly translated into another language. And all this makes the task really challenging as you have to make the reader feel the taste of the time and place!
If the translator has found the right equivalents for each and every sentence in a book, you feel like it was written by the author himself. This is high-quality work that requires effort, time, and patience, and this is the service we can provide with the help of our second-to-none team of literary translators!
Script Translation
The movie script is yet another kind of literary translation, and it should be done by real experts. Scripts usually include too many cultural peculiarities hidden in seemingly short and insignificant phrases to be translated by amateurs.
A movie script is a part of the work that will be watched by a large audience, so it should be done perfectly.
Also, there are cases when you read the translated script and see that it will have to be adapted to be properly understood by the target audience, and it is a good decision to set things straight before you show them to the wide public.
Magazine/Journal Article Translations
Articles are also a separate genre of literary translation, and they require special skills. It does not matter whether your piece of writing is specialized or intended for the general public – it still follows the same basic principle of literary translation: it has to produce the same effect on the audience! And we at HumanTranslation will help you with a high-quality translation of your article.
Frequently Asked Questions:
➤How long will it take to translate my book?
Well, that depends on many factors. First of all, it’s the complexity that may differ from chapter to chapter. If you are a writer, you probably know that some chapters are written easily, while others come with scars. And it’s normal as humans are not robots. What we can promise is a speed of 2,000 – 3,000 words per day, except for days off and holidays. Add some time for the editor’s work, and you will get the approximate result.
The problem with literary translations is that they cannot be divided between translators. While we can engage several people in translating some business contracts, a literary piece should be translated by one person to keep the style consistent. So you cannot have a high-quality book translation within a short term.
➤How do you control the quality of your translations?
We assign them to native speakers only who have the relevant specialization, degree, and credentials. The text is then edited by a literary editor (a native speaker as well) and finally polished by the proofreader. This is the procedure used in publishing houses to ensure high quality, and we find it effective, too.
➤How much do you charge for literary translation?
The best way to find that out is to get an instant quote from our manager. We cannot give you a one- price-fits-all solution as the cost depends on the language pair, the subject matter, and sometimes the term (if you need urgent translation, we will have to charge extra).
➤I need strict confidentiality for my text. Can you ensure it?
All our translators sign an NDA that we can show to you, so you may rest assured that no information will be leaked to any third person.
➤How can I make sure I get what I want?
This is a good question, and first of all, you need to be sure you know what you want and how to describe it to us. As soon as you’ve made this effort, we will transfer the information to the translator, and he or she will translate the first piece in compliance with your requirements. You can then review it and say whether this is what you expect to get or whether some further corrections are needed.
What makes a good translation? First of all, a high-quality source text. If this is a marketing piece of translation, for instance, and the original seems to convey some vague message that is hard to understand for the translator, it will be just as vague for the reader. Therefore, the customer should be prepared to work on the text to get a really good translation, and the translator should be ready to ask the customer to do so. This will make cooperation really beneficial – contrary to the “I-need-the-translation-quickly” approach that may not bear the fruit you want.
Ask the client about the country for which the translation is intended. The Arabic dialect required for Saudi Arabia will differ from the one appropriate for Egypt or Lebanon.
Most Arabic translations will require transcreation due to major cultural differences between English and Arab countries.
The target audience will determine the level of formality required in Arabic texts, so be sure to find out all the required information from the client.
The more important the translation, the higher quality should be agreed upon with the customer. High quality is achieved by editing, sometimes by several editors; it may add up to the cost, but it will finally pay off.
