Interculturalism in translation of functional texts (on the basis of Russian and German translations of guides to Poland)

Abstract

Interculturalism in the case of translation of functional texts is manifested by the presence of the culture of the original text in the culture of the translated text. What underlies this term is the phenomenon of heterogeneity of merging cultures. We deal with their transfer, since culture is transferred to the new so-called ‘third space’, represented by the functional text; this text is linguistically secondary as based on the original, yet it contains cultural elements which are intended to function in the new linguistic-cultural society. This functioning is sometimes accompanied by the phenomenon of partial or full semantization, aiming at introducing recipients to the information conveyed, which is in accordance with pragmatic indicators of the functional text. This causes interculturalism to be perceived as a term with positive connotations. The presence of interculturalism as the third element, superior to two separate cultures of the original text and the translated one, involves the knowledge of the first one manifested by the translator (provided that the translator translates from the foreign language into the mother tongue). The knowledge is the basic element of broadly understood translation competence of the translator. In this case, the choice of the strategy and decision will be the result of a deliberate choice of the translator, and not the consequence of the mistakes he/she has made.