Challenges in the Translation of Religious Culturonyms

Аннотация

The translation of culturonyms—culture-specific lexical items tied to the religious practices, beliefs, institutions, or worldviews of a source culture—poses myriad challenges. This paper examines the difficulties inherent in rendering religious culturonyms from a source into a target language and culture. Drawing on prior research in translation studies and selected case examples from sacred texts and novels, the study identifies major obstacles—semantic non-equivalence, cultural invisibility, translator competence, and audience reception—and outlines strategies commonly adopted (domesticating, foreignizing, explanatory) together with their trade-offs. The findings suggest that no single strategy suffices; rather, a context-sensitive balance is required, and translators must possess deep cultural and religious literacy. The conclusion considers implications for translator training and future research.