Literary Translation - Translation of Books, Articles and Creative Texts

Literary translation is different from ordinary document translation. In a legal, financial or technical text, the main thing is often terminological accuracy, while in a literary text, along with accuracy, the emotion, atmosphere, voice, tone, rhythm and the author's style have to be carried over. A good literary translation should read as if the text had been written in that language from the start, while still keeping the meaning and character of the original.

Literary texts often contain metaphors, irony, dialect, cultural references, humour, subtext, rhythm and emotional nuances. Translating them directly, word for word, often drains the life out of the text. That is why literary translation needs linguistic accuracy, a creative approach, an understanding of the genre and thought for the reader.

What kinds of literary texts do we translate?

Literary translation covers literary works as well as journalistic, marketing and creative texts. Sometimes a client needs a book or a novel translated, sometimes an article, an essay, a blog post, an advertising text, a presentation, a brand story or a social media text adapted. Every genre has its own language, tone and purpose.

Book and novel translation

Translating a book is a large and important process. In a book, the translator has to capture the author's voice, the individual speech of the characters, the pace of the plot, the style of the descriptions, the naturalness of the dialogue and the overall atmosphere of the text. It is especially important that the translation does not lose the emotion of the original and reads naturally for the reader.

Translating a novel, a short story or a memoir often requires working on the text in several stages: the first translation, a stylistic check, editing and final correction. In large projects it is advisable to agree in advance on terms, the principle for rendering the characters' names, the approach to translating dialect or slang, and the overall tone of the text.

Poetry and verse translation

Translating poetry is one of the most difficult areas, because along with the meaning, the rhythm, sound, symbols, the form of the poem, its emotion and its inner music all matter. In some cases the priority is to render the meaning as accurately as possible, in others - to keep the rhythm, the rhyme or the poetic effect.

When translating a poem, the main goal has to be decided in advance: academic accuracy, literary sound, preparation for publication, reading on stage, or simply carrying over the content so it can be understood. The translator's approach changes accordingly.

Children's literature translation

Translating children's books requires special attention. The text has to be simple, natural, suitable for the age and emotionally warm. Children's literature often contains wordplay, rhymes, funny phrases, playful character names and cultural references that can be lost in a direct translation.

When translating such texts, it is important that a child understands the text easily and enjoys reading it. That is why children's translation often requires not only linguistic accuracy but also creative reworking of the text.

Translation of journalism, articles and essays

A journalistic text is different from literary prose. Here the author's position, argument, tone and journalistic style have to be preserved. When translating an article, an essay or an interview, it is important that the text is clear, logical and natural, and that terms and cultural references are carried over correctly into the new language.

We translate newspaper and magazine articles, blog posts, interviews, cultural reviews, texts of public speeches, authors' letters and other journalistic materials. Where needed, the text can be adapted for a specific audience, for example an academic, media or commercial setting.

Advertising texts and transcreation

Translating advertising and marketing texts often requires transcreation - that is, creative adaptation of the text. If a slogan, a brand text or the main message of a campaign is translated word for word, it can lose its effect, humour, emotion or selling power. The goal of transcreation is for the text to have the same impact on the reader in the new language.

We work on slogans, social media texts, ad copy, landing page copy, brand stories, presentations and video ad scripts. With texts like these, the translator works both as a language specialist and as the author of a creative text.

Preserving style, tone and the author's voice

The main task of literary translation is not only "what is written" but "how it is written". The author's voice can be calm, ironic, emotional, poetic, stern, sarcastic, childlike, academic or very personal. In the translation this voice has to be preserved so that the text makes the same impression on the reader.

This often requires getting to know the context, reading a complete part of the text, understanding the characters and the tone, and only then translating. For large texts it is advisable to create a style guide or a shared terminology agreement as well, so that the same approach is followed throughout the whole work.

Editing and literary refinement

A literary text often needs not only translation but editing too. After the first translation, the text is checked stylistically: does it read naturally, is it too heavy, has the author's tone been lost, are the dialogues artificial, and does the text need literary refinement.

Whether editing is needed depends on the purpose of the text. If you need the text only for information, a translation may be enough. If the text is being prepared for publication, for release as a book, for a presentation or for a wide audience, stylistic editing is recommended as well.

Which languages do we do literary translation in?

Literary and creative texts can be translated from Georgian into foreign languages and from foreign languages into Georgian. Literary translation is most often requested into English, Russian, Turkish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Ukrainian, Arabic and Chinese. Translation into other languages depends on the genre, volume and deadline of the text.

How do you order a literary translation?

You can order a literary translation online or at our office. First we need an excerpt of the text or the full file, so that we can assess the genre, volume, stylistic complexity, target language and deadline. For large texts it is important to decide in advance whether you need only a translation, a translation with editing, or full literary refinement.

How much does a literary translation cost?

The price of a literary translation depends on the volume of the text, the genre, the target language, the stylistic complexity, whether editing is needed and the deadline. A short article or blog post can be priced quickly, while a book, a novel, a poetry collection or a large creative project is priced individually.

The best way to get an exact price is to send us an excerpt of the text or the full file. You can find general information on the prices page as well, but the final cost of literary texts always depends on the actual volume and stylistic complexity of the text.

How long does a literary translation take?

The turnaround depends on the volume and complexity of the text. A short advertising text or an article can be ready within a short time, while a book, a novel, a poetic text or a large journalistic project takes longer. In large projects the work can be split into stages: a trial excerpt, the first part, editing and the final version.

Why TARGMANEBI?

In literary translation, what matters most is the beauty of the language, preserving the style, carrying over the emotion and natural reading. TARGMANEBI works with both official and creative texts - literary, journalistic, marketing and web content, as well as legal, financial, technical and medical documents. This lets us approach a text not only linguistically but with its purpose, audience and genre in mind.

• translation of books, novels, short stories and essays;
• translation of journalism, articles and blog posts;
• adaptation of advertising texts, slogans and brand texts;
• preserving the author's style, tone and emotion;
• editing and literary refinement available;
• online orders via WhatsApp or email;
• price and turnaround estimated in advance;
• Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi and online service from all over Georgia.

Frequently asked questions