Cover not available

In:Aproximación a la traducción de referentes culturales en el ámbito audiovisual y literario / Approach to the translation of cultural references in the audiovisual and literary fields
Editado por Pedro Mogorrón Huerta, Lucía Navarro-Brotons y Iván Martínez-Blasco
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 45] 2025
► pp. 109–122

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Translating sociolinguistic traces of urban youth culture in contemporary fiction

 | Centre for Anglophone Studies Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès
Published online: 13 May 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.45.07lev
Abstract
This paper examines the links between linguistic variety and cultural references in translation, positing that both serve to anchor a work of fiction in a specific time and place, and to provide information about the identity of their users. This idea is borne out in a discussion presenting typologies for the translation of cultural references and of slang, demonstrating how drawing links between these two translation issues may allow us to understand better the functions of implicit and explicit signs of cultural affiliation in the source text. Providing examples from texts set in and around Paris featuring slang, it will comment on the repercussions of implementing various methods used to translate linguistic variety and cultural references.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Defining youth language and culture
    • 2.1Translating cultural references
    • 2.2Translating slang
  • 3.Translating (sub)culture and slang in practice: Case study
    • 3.1Specificity of the subgroup within the source culture
    • 3.2Broadening the audience
    • 3.3Parallels between subgroups
    • 3.4Transforming the slang
    • 3.5New slang
  • 4.Conclusions
  • References
References (10)
References
Bégaudeau, François. 2006. Entre les murs. Paris: Gallimard.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. The Class, trans. Linda Asher. New York: Seven Stories Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coleman, Julie (ed.). 2014. Global English Slang: Methodologies and Perspectives. New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, Eirlys E. 2003. “A Goblin or a Dirty Nose?: The Treatment of Culture-Specific References in Translations of the Harry Potter Books.” In The Translator 9 (1): 65–100. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gadet, Françoise. 1997. Le français ordinaire. Paris: Armand Colin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harvey, Malcolm. 2000. “A Beginner’s Course in Legal Translation: The Case of Culture-Bound Terms.” In ASTTI/ETI: 357–69.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kassovitz, Mathieu. 1995. La Haine. Paris: Lazennec & Associés.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levick, Tiffane. 2018. Orality and Universality: In Search of a Global Youth Speak in Translation. Paris: Université Sorbonne Nouvelle.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mailhac, Jean-Pierre. 1996. “Evaluating Criteria for the Translation of Cultural References.” In On Translating French Literature and Film ed. by Geoffrey T. Harris. Amsterdam: Rodopi: 173–188.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pederson, Jan. 2007. “Cultural Interchangeability: The Effects of Substituting Cultural References in Subtitling.” Perspectives Studies in Translatology 15 (1): 30–48. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue