Literary traslation from Spanish into English: the traslation of culture-specific terms

Abstract

Very little has so far been written on translating Spanish into English, and even less on the specific problems encountered in the translation of Spanish prose fiction. To take the point further, so far as this author knows, nothing is written on the practica! problems caused by culture-specific terms. One of the major reasons being, of course, the extremely sensitive and subjective nature of any enquiry into this area. It is a veritable minefield for academic research and, as the author is aware, "fools rush in where angels fear to tread". This fool is not only rushing in but probably putting her foot in I Having said this, it should be pointed out that until theorists deign to come to sorne agreement on the subject, it still has to be taught in the classroom. With this in mind the following article presents sorne of the most common culture-specific problems encountered in translating Spanish into English.