Im Spagat zwischen Zebra und Kuh Literaturübersetzen als Kulturtransfer am Beispiel von Azouz Begag (Nicht nur) Ein Praxisbericht

Abstract

Literary works are almost interspersed with linguistic images, Metaphors, comparisons, realia, and idioms from a completely different world of language and life, which document and reflect the double or triple cultural identity of their authors. Le Gone du Chaâba is a prime example of this reality. Béni ou le Paradis privé is another instance that reveals the complexity of the cultural transfer when translated from one language to another. In this article, I will consider the problems of translating the cultural items in Azouz Beggag’s novels. Then, I will discuss the different ambiguities ending with some solutions. One could certainly carry out a much more detailed and systematic analysis, especially of the intercultural and metalinguistic translation problems that the novels of Azouz Begag raise but I hope to have at least raised the awareness that a translation is much more of a process, a work-in-progress than an end product that has been completed for all time, and especially when it is a translation, which takes place at the intersection of three languages and their underlying cultures.