WHERE ARE THE BOUNDARIES OF TRANSLATORS FREEDOM IN PROSE?

Abstract

On the micro-level of the text (i.e. in words, sentences, phrases, idioms etc.), every translation requires certain deviations by the translator if he wants to remain faithful to the original. This is especially true in poetry, but even when translating prose texts, the translator sometimes finds him/herself in a situation when he/she has to slightly deviate from the original. This can be achieved by means of lexical, syntactic, semantical etc. additions, subtracting or other changes. This paper deals with a case of a translation change made in the recently published Serbian translation of the pre-war Hungarian novel Journey by Moonlight, written by Antal Szerb (1901– 1945). The entire context of this relatively big intervention shows that we deal with a deliberate and conscious, culturally and contextually conditioned change. The author argues that the Serbian translator of this famous novel, Ãrpád Vickó, introduced this change so that a vital element of this masterpiece could be brought closer to the cultural code of Serbian readers.