Translation techniques for absolute neologisms in the German translation of The Witcher Cycle by Andrzej Sapkowski

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the German translation of the author’s original neologisms from Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher Cycle, based on a contrastive analysis of Polish and German in terms of translation techniques for literary neologisms. The paper provides an introduction to the research problem and presents the aims of the study, offers an overview of the most important terminologies of neologisms and explains their characteristics. While dealing with the problem of the neologisms, the paper also differentiates them from standard new words and puts an emphasis on their significant role in Fantasy literature. For this purpose, 30 absolute neologisms were excerpted from the following volumes of The Witcher Cycle: Miecz przeznaczenia, Ostatnie życzenie, Krew elfów, Czas pogardy, Chrzest ognia, Wieża Jaskółki, Pani Jeziora, Sezon burz and compared with their German translations found in Das Erbe der Elfen, Das Schwert der Vorsehung, Der letzte Wunsch, Der Schwalbenturm, Die Dame vom See, Die Zeit der Verachtung, Feuertaufe and Zeit des Sturms. The conducted analysis confirmed that translating linguistic innovations is a task that requires an individual approach on the part of the translator, especially when it concerns such unique material as Fantasy literature. In a further perspective, it was shown that theoretical propositions of translation (transplantation, creation, imitation and neutralisation) are verified in translation practice.