Translation Strategies in the Lithuanian Translation of the Polish Sociolect in Lithuania: The Case of Bartosz Połoński’s Novel Robczik
Abstract
The translation of non-standard speech (dialects, sociolects) poses a significant challenge for translators, as it requires unconventional translation solutions to achieve both stylistic and pragmatic equivalence. This article analyzes the Lithuanian translation of Bartosz Połoński’s novel Robczik. Powieść wileńska, in which, the author employs sociolectal stylization – the characters use slang common among Polish-background youth in Vilnius at the turn of the 20th and 21th centuries. On the linguistic level, the author introduces two types of stylistic elements: (1) Northern Borderlands Polish features across all levels of language, and (2) lexical borrowings from Russian, Lithuanian, and English. Each of these elements required a different translation strategy in the target text. The analysis employed four theoretical categories: full substitution, ‘shifted’ substitution, neutralization, and additional stylization. Since the sociolect of the period depicted in Lithuania was largely based on Russian and English loanwords, translational equivalence was achieved through their substitution. In the case of dialectal expressions lacking precise equivalents, a compensatory strategy was applied by replacing them with colloquialisms. The Lithuanian lexical elements deliberately introduced in the source text were neutralized. At the same time, the translation introduced an additional layer of stylization by incorporating selected Polish linguistic features with the aim of conveying the authentic social identity of the novel’s characters.