Use of translation strategies in Lithuanian translation of National Geographic : analysis of the effect on target readers' understanding of translated text

Abstract

The present study examines the use of translation strategies in the Lithuanian translation of three articles related to urban topics and globalisation found in the Lithuanian issues of the ìNational Geographicî. The analysis aims at revealing how the use of the particular translation strategies affects the target readerís understanding of the given text. Subsequently, the contrastive aspects of English and Lithuanian are highlighted. The authors study a variety of descriptive phrases, comparisons, idioms and other expressions. 128 items have been examined. A contrastive descriptive analysis has been employed as a research method. With the help of it different English and Lithuanian language structures were disclosed and compared. The analysis is based on the terminology and interpretation of the translation strategies introduced by Eirlys E. Davies [Davies 2003: 72ñ89]. A number of translations involve culture-specific realia. The latter are discussed as well. The study shows that certain translation strategies have been employed more than others. The reasons for such application are presented. The authors also consider whether the translation was successful and whether the target text conveys the same meaning as implied in the source text.