Translating Translation – Thoughts on “Lost in Translation” by Eva Hoffman
Translating Translation – Thoughts on “Lost in Translation” by Eva Hoffman

Author(s): Anna Szczepan-Wojnarska
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Communication studies, Culture and social structure , Translation Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: translation; identity; transcultural; communication; multicultural society
Summary/Abstract: This article presents various aspects of identity of the alien person in the perspective of language and culture as evidenced in “Lost in Translation” by Eva Hoffman. In her autobiographical prose Hoffman tries to articulate what she is struggling with, what is lost in translation and this central metaphor of self-translation determines the relationship between Hoffman’s Polish and Anglophone selves presented as an inner dialogue, at the same time lacking the language for Jewish identity. It is argued that the Hoffman’s book reflects not on translation from one language to another, but on the process of “translating” as an attitude to life or even way of life. Transcultural context of contemporary world emphasises an importance of translating as a necessary tool in search for meaning and its understanding and therefore – for communication.

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