Is culture translatable? On the Polish novel Chłopi by Władysław Stanisław Reymont translated into German by Jean Paul d’Ardeschah as a dialogue of Polish and German cultures

The article is an attempt to extend knowledge on the translation- and culture-related factors determining the translatability of Polish culture-bound items into German. It was analysed whether and under what circumstances culture-bound items typical of Polish peasant culture are translatable into German without losing their source connotations and relation to the source culture. The analysis encompassed 96 Polish culture-bound items excerpted from Chłopi by Władysław Stanisław Reymont and their equivalents excerpted from its German translation Die Bauern by Jean Paul d’Ardeschah. It was assumed that the culture-bound items could be successfully rendered into German by employing the strategy of cultural translation, which involves applying specific translation techniques. The study undertook qualitative analysis of techniques employed by the translator in his rendition of culture-bound items. The analysis also concerned the equivalence of connotations established using German elements. It was ascertained that the strategy of cultural translation made it possible to achieve a high level of translatability of Polish peasant culture. Its applicability in the translation process was determined by the translator’s initial aim and the intensity of transfer between the source and the target culture.