Traducción cultural de literatura periodística: análisis crítico de la traducción de Rabassa de Crónica de una muerte anunciada

Resumen

Malinowski’s (1953) principle of cultural-linguistic relativity implies that a translation cannot be considered as such if culture is not translated along. From this premise emerged the concept of cultural translation, which becomes relevant in the dichotomy of faithfulness to the source text (ST) vs. expressiveness of the target text (TT), especially in the translation of literature as it is rooted in the deepest core of our humanly expression. Therefore, the purpose of this critical analysis is to pragmatically evaluate Gregory Rabassa’s translation of the novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez, paying particular attention to how the cultural nuances behind the literary and narrative text are effectively conveyed in the English language. A Descriptive Translation Analysis (DTA) was applied to twelve excerpts from the second chapter of the novel. The results show that Rabassa remains culturally faithful to the Spanish language in terms of cultural associations of gender, age, and seasonal practices, thus making these aspects of the Latino-Hispanic community visible to the Anglo-Saxon readers. Finally, Gregory Rabassa is posed as a Cultural Translator.