Translations as Icebergs, Translators as Navigators: a Poetic Case Study

Following the iceberg model of culture, the present study offers a view of a poetic text and its translations as the tips of cultural-linguistic icebergs. This assigns to the translator the task of navigating the meanders of the source and target languages as well as diving below the surface of words. This thesis is exemplified by an analysis of English translations of Wisława Szymborska’s poem Rozmowa z kamieniem with its keyword kamień and its underlying cultural-linguistic foundations, supported by the concept of linguistic worldview. Hopefully, in this framework the human factor in translation still is, and will always be, irreplaceable.

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