«Entonces habrá de ser nada, porque lo que pides no cabe, profesor, y soy el primero en sentirlo»¹.

"Then it will have to be nothing at all, because what you're asking for won't work, Professor, and I'm the first to feel it"².

One category of realia consists of geographic realia, that, in turn, can be divided into:

• physical geography and meteorology objects, like, for example: steppe, prairie, tampa, puszta, fiord, wadi, mistral, simoom, tornado, tsunami;
• names of geographic objects linked to man's activities: polder
• denominations of endemic species: kiwi, koala, Abominable Snowman, yeti, sequoia, Galápagos iguana, čheryomuha.

 

Let us examine the case of "steppe". Let us see what actualizations can there be of this element in a translation from Russian and how is it possible to catalogue them.

One possibility is the simple transliteration of the Russian word:

1. step´; this choice has the characteristic of recognizing the alien element and of providing a neuter (neither specifying nor generalizing) rendering.

Another possibility consists in transcribing the Russian word trying to adapt the spelling to render its pronunciation intuitive to the receiving culture's reader:

2. stiép; this choice has the characteristic of recognizing the alien element and of providing for a neuter (neither specifying nor generalizing) rendering. Compared to the previous case, however, there is a greater appropriation of the graphic aspect.

A third possibility consists in creating a specific translatant for the receiving culture, in this case:

3. steppe; this choice has the characteristic of only partially recognizing the alien element (the reader may not know that the word "steppe" derives from Russian culture) and of providing a neuter (neither specifying nor generalizing) rendering.

A fourth possibility consists in explicitating the denotative content:

4. kind of vegetation formed by herbs with a more or less elevated content of chlorophyll; this choice has the characteristic of not recognizing the alien element, a sort of standardization of a specific category, and of providing for a specifying (neither neuter nor generalizing) rendering, i.e. explicitation;

A fifth possibility consists in substituting to steppe a local variant of this kind of vegetation:

5. puszta (for Hungarian culture), prairie (for North-American culture), pampa (for South-American culture); this choice has the characteristic of appropriating the alien element. Finding a puszta in a text set in Russia is in a sense a "geographic fake", a specifying (neither neuter nor generalizing) rendering.

A sixth possibility consists in substituting the steppe with a variant of this kind of vegetation considered 'international', the best known in the world. In our case, for example, supposing that the best known denomination is "steppe", while translating from Hungarian into English puszta, one could use as translatant

6. «steppe»; this choice has the characteristic of not recognizing the alien element, its assimilation to a generic 'international code' not typical of a given region, and of providing for a generalizing (neither neuter nor specifying) rendering.

The seventh possibility consists in the previous choice with the addition of an adjective specifying its geographic identity:

7. "Hungarian steppe"; this choice has the characteristic of recognizing the alien element on the plane of content, although not on the formal plane, and of providing for a neuter (neither generalizing nor specifying) rendering.

Vlahov and Florin distinguish ethnographic realia as words signifying notions of the discipline that studies everyday life and culture of peoples, forms of material and spiritual culture, customs, religion, art, folklore and so on. They are further divided into:

• everyday life: shchi, paprika, pie, spaghetti, empanadas, knedli, kumys, cider, trattoria, sauna, bistrot, drugstore; kimono, sari, sarong, toga, mocassin, lapti, sombrero, fibula, jeans; izbà, yurt, igloo, wigwam, bungalow, tucul, hacienda, amphora; fiacre, troika, cab, lando, gondola;
• work: brigadeer, farmer, gaucho, consierge, dezhurnaya, fellah; machete, boleadoras; kolkhoz, rancho, latifundium, brigade, guild;
• art and culture: kazachok, tarantella, coro, canzonetta, blues; balalaika, tam-tam, castanets, banjo; saga, bylina, chastushki; no (theatre), commedia dell'arte, harlequin, petrushka; ikebana; bard, minstrel, skomorokh, geisha, carnival, Ramadan, May Day, Easter, Passover, Hanukah, Thanksgiving, taroc, pitcher; Santa Claus, Valkyrie, werewolf, vampire, zhar-ptitsa, baba yagà, flying carpet, lama, shaman, bonze; Mormon, Quaker, dervish, pagoda, synagogue, ides, calends, bab´e leto;
• ethnic objects and slams: Bantu, Coptic, Cossack, totonaki, basque; cockney, Fritz, gringo, gorilla, yankee; carioca, kanaka; nip, gook, Jap; wetback, greaser, beaner, WOP.
• measures and money: arshin, foot, mile, yard, li, pud, hectar, pertica, acre, quarter; ruble, dollar, kopek, lira, dinar, peseta, talent, grand, green.

Let us examine the case of "synagogue". Let us see what actualizations can there be of this element in a translation from a language different from Hebrew and how is it possible to catalogue them.

One possibility is the simple transliteration of the Hebrew word:

1. beit hakneset; this choice has the characteristic of recognizing the alien element and of providing for a specifying (neither neuter nor generalizing) rendering.

Another possibility consists in translating the Hebrew words beit hakneset to reconstruct in the receiving culture a linguistically similar form:

2. gathering house; this choice has the characteristic of not recognizing the alien element (a "gathering house" could be wherever, in any culture) and of providing for a neuter (neither specifying nor generalizing) rendering.

A third possibility consists in creating a specific translatant for the receiving culture, in this case:

3. synagogue; this choice has the characteristic of only partially recognizing the alien element (the reader may not know that "synagogue" is a Greek word deriving from Jewish culture) and of providing for a neuter (neither specifying nor generalizing) rendering.

A fourth possibility consists in explicitating the denotative content:

4. sacred building in Jewish tradition destined to the exercise of cult; this choice has the characteristic of a specifying (neither neuter nor generalizing) rendering consisting in explicitation, joined to the recognition of such an element as belonging to a given culture;

A fifth possibility would be to substitute synagogue with a local variant of this kind of element:

5. church (for Christian culture), mosque (for Islamic culture), temple (for some polytheist cultures); this choice has the characteristic of appropriating the alien element. Finding a church in a Hebrew text set in a Jewish context is in a sense a "cultural fake", a specifying (neither neuter nor generalizing) rendering.

A sixth possibility consists in substituting the synagogue with a variant of this kind of sacred building considered 'international', the best known in the world. In our case, for example, supposing that the best known denomination is "temple", one could use as translatant

6. "temple"; this choice has the characteristic of not recognizing the alien element, its assimilation to a generic 'international code' not typical of a given region, and of providing for a generalizing (neither neuter nor specifying) rendering.

The seventh possibility consists in the previous choice with the addition of an adjective specifying its cultural identity:

"Hebrew temple"; this choice has the characteristic of recognizing the alien element on the plane of content, although not on the formal plane, and of providing for a neuter (neither generalizing nor specifying) rendering.

Bibliographical references

MARÍAS J. Negra espalda del tiempo, Punto de lectura, 2000 (original edition 1998), ISBN 84-663-0007-7.

MARÍAS J. Dark Back of Time, New York, New Directions, 2001 (translated by Esther Allen), ISBN 0-8112-1466-4.

VLAHOV S., FLORIN S., Neperovodimoe v perevode. Realii, in Masterstvo perevoda, n. 6, 1969, Moskvà, Sovetskij pisatel´, 1970, p. 432-456.

VLAHOV S., FLORIN S., Neperovodimoe v perevode, Moskvà, Vysshaja shkola, 1986.

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¹ Marías 2000, p. 71.
² Marías 2001, p. 59.