This master’s thesis examines translation of culture-specific elements in Ingo Schulze’s novel Adam and Evelyn. The emphasis is on the culture-specific elements, connected with the former German Democratic Republic. The thesis focuses on the different translation procedures, for which the translator decided when translating the elements, and their adequacy in the given context.
The thesis seeks to confirm the hypothesis that the translator used different translation procedures when translating culture-specific elements. In most cases, she did not need to explain the meaning of the elements because Slovene readers know the East German culture relatively well. We are as well familiar with the socialist social order and the communism, which we know from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
To test the hypothesis, GDR-related culture-specific elements from different areas and their translation equivalents were analysed and the adequacy of translation procedures, chosen by the translator, was commented on. For better understanding of culture-specific elements, their meaning is also explained and they are discussed in the wider social and political context of the former GDR. To compare both communist systems, the situation in the SFRY in connection with a given area is explained as well.
The analysis showed that the translator used numerous different translation procedures when translating culture-specific elements. The meaning of most of the elements is known to the reader or is understandable from the context, therefore the translator did not need to add any additional explanation. Thereby, the hypothesis was confirmed.
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