ALLUSION QUEST FOR TRANSLATORS: TO TRANSLATE OR NOT TO TRANSLATE

Rima Jasnauskaitė*¹& Asta Pukienė²

^1,2Kaunas University of Applied Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

DOI:10.55559/sjahss.v2i07.129 | Received: 15.06.2023 | Accepted: 01.07.2023 | Published: 29.07.2023

Abstract

Research purpose. The research aims at identifying and revealing the tendencies of translating allusions from English (as the source language) into Lithuanian (as the target language) in the texts of The Economist and their correspondences in the magazine IQ.

Methodological approach. The paper suggests the theoretical background of the concept of allusion and the main strategies of its translation. The practical analysis is based on 54 examples found in the 28 articles of the source language with their corresponding translations into the target language. The descriptive contrastive linguistic method has been applied for processing the data selected.

Findings. The analysis of the cases of allusion transference reveals the fact that the most common allusion translation strategies from the source language into the target one involves the direct translation and the direct translation with minimum changes complying with the rules of the Lithuanian language system, which allow a translator to remain faithful to the source text and convey the initial intention to well-educated and literate audiences. The ways of translation by adding extra allusive guidance and translator’s notes, using a more familiar substitution, or eliminating the allusion in the target language have been fewer in number, but with a skilful application accommodate the needs of the source language audiences. 

Value and practical implications. The texts of contemporary mass media demonstrate the presence of a variety of historical, religious, cultural, and literary references that usually pose a real challenge to a translator intending to convey the author’s original intention and, at the same time, make the message comprehensible for the target readership. A well-chosen strategy for allusion translation in the texts of mass media can attract larger audiences and help to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. 

Keywords: allusions, translation strategies, direct translation, addition, replacement, omission

Introduction

Allusions and cultural references have a long and fruitful history of employment in the various genre of fiction texts. Being a stylistic device, allusions help the text author to enhance the emotional, descriptive, and communicative power of the literary discourse. Nowadays, the application of allusions has easily conquered new domains such as mass media, social media, journalism, and the press. Text creators of non-fiction products refer to allusions as a short and sweet way to make their message more intriguing, informative, and persuasive to the reader. This is possible due to the multi-facet functional nature of the allusion: it tells its own story within a new narrative; it stylistically colours the new text or maintains a dialogue between the message sender and the message receiver.

However, the application of an allusion in any type of text is justifiable and thriving when the audience is able to understand it, i.e., able to decode the message of the allusion in the same way as it was encoded originally by the author. To reach that communicative result, both dialoguing parties should share the same amount of common cultural knowledge, which functions cross-culturally and can be recognised universally: they should speak ‘the same cultural’ language.

The variety of cultural, historical, and religious sources of allusions is immense, and the decision of the choice lies on the text creator; however, the allusion-related problem does not end at that point. The complexity of the issue continues to grow when it comes to the translation of text containing allusions or culture-specific items. Translation theories suggest several strategies for allusion translation (starting with transferring, implying some alterations, substituting, or ending with deleting), and the decision-making responsibility falls upon the translator. Now the translator should solve the sophistically twisted puzzles of how much the translated text could differ from the original source language, how great a personal translator’s impact on the text could be, and to what extent it should be localised and made easily comprehensible for the target language audience.

So, the problem question the research tries to answer is what translation strategies translators apply while translating allusions from English (as the source language) into Lithuanian (as the target language) found in newspaper/magazine article texts.

The aim of the research is to reveal tendencies of translation practice in translating allusions used in English newspaper/magazine articles from the source language (English) into the target one (Lithuanian). 

The subject of the research is cases of allusion use found in English newspaper articles of The Economist and their translations into Lithuanian published in the Lithuanian monthly magazine IQ.

The methods applied in the research are the following:

• the analysis of theoretical sources that helped to build an overall definition of the allusion, its origin and nature, stylistic and communicative functions as well as to overview translation possibilities.
• the descriptive contrastive linguistic analysis that helped to critically assess the cases of allusion used in the source language (English) and translation alternatives practically applied in the target language (Lithuanian).

Literature Review

An allusion briefly could be defined as a reference to a person, place, object, or another literary source with which the message addressee, according to the assumption of the allusion user, is presumably familiar. In other words, allusions are stylistic devices that enable one to link the situation depicted in the work with a phenomenon of another period of a different nature. So, the allusion might be viewed as a short text within another text, or a fragment of an old story hosted by a new narrative. Such literary communicative practice allows an author of a new text to implant more meaning and make the text more emotionally significant (Dreeva, Aslanyan, 2021). Culturally referencing to names of famous real people, historical events, and literary characters, when they are mentioned not simply as a fact, creates extra meaning due to the employment of qualities and characteristics recognised by the world (Delahunty, Dignen, 2012). 

Allusions, as stated by Koženiauskienė (2007), can appear in a text in the form of direct text, a hint, or be hidden or inserted as a riddle for the reader. In general, allusions can be applied in a text explicitly and implicitly: pure and direct citations when the author inserts fragments of another text clearly separated by quotation marks or when allusions or references are implanted into the text without any quotes. For a deeper explanation of the technique of allusion use, Allen (2021), Haberer (2007) and Simpson (2004) suggest the term intertextuality. According to the author, all forms of narrative, like all written texts, cannot exist in a social, cultural, or historical vacuum, and it often echoes other texts or images either as ‘implicit’ intertextuality or ‘manifested’ intertextuality (Dang, 2018; Simpson, 2004). Allusions or referencing function intertextually, according to Oddo (2014), in the same way as other intertextual linguistic figures such as quotation, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche, and parody.

As Valotka (2017) and Allen (2021) claim, these stylistic means functioning intertextually can be used by new text creators when they attempt to incorporate a subtext into a text and the pragmatic reasons for that can be (i) to produce a description or evaluation (i.e., allusions used to detail the image by comparing the hero with the other well-known character or object), (ii) to be used occasionally (i.e., historical references applied to create the emotional background of the required time) and (iii) just to structure the text (i.e., entering additional information and approving the text of the joint work) (Valotka, 2017).

Moreover, Lennon (2008) highlights four more functional domains of allusions besides intertextuality or inter(con)textuality. They are the following: (1) intratextuality which is associated with stylistic foreground; (2) metatextuality which is associated with evaluation; (3) processing domain that enhances the communication process or makes it more riddle-like and finally (4) interpersonal-affective domain that builds the link between the writer and the reader (Lennon, 2008).

Still, Dreeva and Aslanyan (2021) remark that the use of allusions in a text is relevant and effective as far as they can be decoded and interpreted properly by the text reader. A reader’s failure to notice and comprehend an allusion as a stylistic device containing extra meaning and extra connotative power, according to Christofer (2011), makes the unexplored allusion not to function as an allusion in general. This statement is complemented by Haberer (2007) claiming that only due to this ability of the reader or listener the pragmatic mission of the allusion could be possible.

What happens if the reader fails to identify the ‘right’ allusive link? On the one hand, the reader might interpret the allusion in an individual way, and that interpretation does not correspond to the author’s original idea. Still, it does not imply a dissonance in the dialogue between the author and the addressee because, eventually, a different vision of the world is constructed. On the other hand, readers who do not understand the allusions of a text can still follow the narrative and stay entertained or enlightened by its message anyway (Wiehardt, 2020). But what happens when the text addressee encounters some work of literature densely packed with allusions referring to too specific or obscure sources to be decoded successfully? Minas (2019) explains that such a situation, even for a highly educated reader, can cause a complex reading experience, while an individual who does not comprehend most of the allusions might turn the reading process into a complete failure.

According to the position of Koženiauskienė (2013) and Valotka (2017), who dealt with the issues of allusion application and translation in various communicative forms or acts, the statement that allusions, like other stylistic instruments, have always been and will remain in the spotlight of rhetorical and literary discourses and this assumption is true and undeniable. Allusions serve as a powerful tool for contemporary public speakers, journalists, or social media writers because, as Wiehardt (2020) claims, this stylistic device creates a sense of community between the speaker and the audience as both dialogue parties understand the allusion in the same way. Moreover, the most persuasive texts create the feeling that the addresser and addressee seem to be speaking the same language. 

So, the popularity of allusions as a strong emotional tool is unarguable even among the non-fiction discourse creators of the digital mass media era. Linguists analysing the theoretical and practical applicability of allusions highlight an immense scope and diversity of allusions available for nowadays language users because the cultural sources of their origin are absolutely limitless: historical (i.e., a reference to a historical event or period), mythological (i.e., a reference to a mythological figure or story), literary (i.e., to a literary text or character), religious (i.e., to a religious text, story, or figure) (Condliffe, 2021). A lot of these sources have been acknowledged cross-culturally and stereotypically referring to a referent as a paragon of wisdom, a source of eternal verities, or moral and spiritual values that have become clichés and symbols of people’s experience (Panasenko & Šestakova, 2013).

Furthermore, scholarly sources by Allen (2019) and Delahunty, Dignen (2012), dealing with the issues of allusion identification and decoding in a successful communication act, base this process on the assumption that there must be a body of knowledge shared by those who use allusions and those whom allusions are addressed to, and that shared knowledge creates a common understanding of the same referent between them. Consequently, the allusion user is supposed to have a clear and complete picture of the addressee’s social, cultural, or educational scope of knowledge. Here the audience is on the side of demand. At the same time, the creator takes the side of supply: the older generation is more skilful in noticing links with religious or classical literature texts, the current one is better informed about movie production, another one guesses the allusion reference originated in computer games, cyberspace life, or pop-culture.

The basic armoury of allusions for contemporary text creators is constantly evolving and changing. As Delahunty and Dignen in A Dictionary of Reference and Allusion (2012) state, the young audience may not easily understand associations with historical figures or events. Still, they most certainly are literate in association with pop culture as they are people who listen to pop music, appreciate modern art, watch movies or TV series, and are engaged in other popular cultural activities. All these aspects give the basis to the advent of new allusions that will be used because people will be able to identify them and share universal understanding worldwide. So, the dictionary has been enriched by adding fresh and updated entries such as Princess Diane or Frodo.

Notwithstanding the claim made by Wiehardt (2020) that an allusion is a common and effective stylistic way to enhance the communicative potential of the text, at the same time, it could be viewed as a complex technique for translation. Translation problems occur because the meaning of an allusion can vary among different cultures, and while translating them from one language into another, the translator must be familiar with both cultures. So, to correctly interpret an allusion in a target language, the author of the original text in the source language and the translator into the target language as well as the reader of the text translated, must have common cultural knowledge and social experience (Valotka, 2017). Methods applied while dealing with the translation of allusive references for another ethnic group sometimes might make the comprehension of the text very difficult; they might develop different associations while interacting with allusions differently from the ones the author intended to convey initially. In general, the translation process of cultural references from the source language into the target language requires a profound understanding of cultures, well-developed language sense and professional skills to make the most relevant solution as the translator is involved in the process of transcultural communication (Gorey, 2019).

However, according to James (2017), no language could exist without a cultural context, and no culture can exist without a naturally advanced language structure at its centre. While translating a text, the translator must decide for oneself upon the degree of importance certain cultural aspects should acquire in the translated text and how close the reader’s decoding results must be to the author’s authentical intentions as it might directly lead to misunderstanding of the overall message of the discourse. It is the translator who decides whether to translate, omit or paraphrase an allusion because the translator is not only a technical performer but also a deliberate conveyer of the essence of the text. Each culture, as Bassnett (2013) states, often has a different history, mythology, buildings, places or literature and the task of the translator is to convey meaning without distorting the substance of the text. It is also noted that cultural differences between different languages can become more problematic for the translator compared to linguistic differences. In addition, each linguistic discourse is individual and has its own original characteristics, so the translator must decide which method of translating cultural references and allusions is most appropriate for a particular translation case (James, 2017).

The theoretical model and its explanation developed by Leppihalme (1997) and Daghoughi, Hashemian (2016) state that in the process of translation of allusions and cultural references acts as an intertextual cultural dimension of the text and in this case, the translation can be assumed to be an attempt to transfer the text from its authentical socio-cultural environment into the socio-cultural environment of the text under translation. And Zaky (2018), together with Davies (2003) back up this assumption by claiming that the transference of socio-cultural references in translation becomes more complex due to the non-existence of direct lexical equivalents of a given item, when the translation takes place across two different languages that do not have a culture in common. In addition, the bilingual differences in transferring allusions based on proper nouns, i.e., names of individuals, placenames, and proper object names, might lead the translator to a situation that requires to decide what option to choose to enable the addressee of the text in the target language to recognise the cultural links with minimum efforts. And the four optional ways suggested by Leppihalme (1997) and Pažūsis (2014) are described in the translation theories: (1) retention of the name by using the name as such, (2) using the name with the addition of some guidance, a detailed explanation, a footnote, (3) replacement of the name by another language name of the target language, (4) omission of the name when the translator tries to transfer the sense by other means or by a common noun simultaneously omitting the original name of the source text (Davies, 2003; Leppihalme, 1997; Baker, 2011; Daghoughi, Hashemian, 2016; Pažūsis, 2014).

However, the question of how translators may handle practically the issue of translation of allusions as socio-cultural references, according to Daghoughi, Hashemian (2016) and Leppihalme (1997), can be rather various as the scholar formulates nine alternative strategies: (1) to use direct or word by word translation; (2) to apply minimum change, i.e., a literal translation without regard to connotative or contextual meaning; (3) to supply with extra allusive guidance added in the text; (4) to use footnotes, endnotes, translator’s notes and other explicit explanations not supplied in the source text but explicitly given as additional information; 5) to stimulate familiarity or internal marking by including the addition of intra-allusive allusion; (6) to apply the method of replacement using a target language item; (7) to use reduction method when the sense of allusion is conveyed by rephrasing; (8) to apply the method of re-creation that could be achieved by exploiting a fusion of techniques, i.e., creatively construct a passage which hints at the connotations of the allusion or other special effects created by it; (9) to completely omit the allusion or referencing hint that occurs in the original text.

So, it is the translator who is left alone to face the allusion translation problem and to choose the most relevant and reliable way. The linguistic, communicative, and pragmatic functions of the discourse might suggest different solutions such as searching for the full equivalent in the target language, trying to discover the partial equivalent, or, finally in the case of non-equivalence, inventing a new substituting item. It can be done efficiently only when the professional competencies, personal qualities, and educational background are equally employed by the individual who dears refer to oneself as a translator.

Methodology

The aim of the practical part of the current research is to shed light on the ways of translating allusions from English (as the source language) into Lithuanian (as the target language) and to investigate what changes they undergo in the process of translation.

Prior studies on the translation of allusions (e.g., Leppihalme, 1997; Bahrami, 2011; Lievois, 2017; Kümbül, 2021) were mainly carried out within various sources of fiction, such as novels, short stories, drama, or poetry. However, the data for the current research has been collected from the recent editions of The Economist (a weekly British newspaper, sometimes referred to as a magazine) and the translations of its separate articles in the Lithuanian monthly magazine IQ.

Mass media (including TV, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, the Internet, etc.) serves many functions, one of which is to simultaneously acquaint large audiences with what is going on in the world. There is no doubt that information disseminated by mass media is changing rapidly and constantly, both from the point of view of the content and the form, and that is why, newspaper and magazine articles, scripts of radio and television, as well as a post on social media have the invaluable potential for analysing the dynamics of the language and its certain characteristics. The Economist has been chosen as the primary source for allusion collection as its texts provide a wide range of coverage including current affairs, international business, politics, the world’s economy, technology, and culture and reach massive audiences worldwide in its print circulations and digital presence. According to many sources (e.g., The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2022), The Economist is regarded as one of the world’s preeminent magazines of this kind.

The research corpus consists of 28 articles from The Economist and a total of 54 examples of allusions, as well as their Lithuanian correspondences in the translated texts of IQ magazine. The method of a descriptive contrastive linguistic analysis has been applied in order to process the collected examples, which were grouped and analysed according to the above-mentioned strategies by Daghoughi, Hashemian (2016), Leppihalme (1997) and Pažūsis (2014). However, the translation strategies have been slightly tailored by the authors in order to fit into the scope of the current research. All cases of allusions were selected by applying allusion recognition techniques and excluding ambiguous examples. As the aim of this study is to reveal the ways in which allusions are translated, the broader interpretation of the use of allusions in a particular context is not presented. 

Results

Strategy 1. Direct or word-by-word translation. One of the most common patterns of allusion translation among the collected examples from The Economist (hereinafter referred to as the source language – the SL) and their Lithuanian counterparts in the IQ magazine (the target language – the TL) appeared to be a direct or word-by-word translation. The examples suggested below are referenced as Source N found in the articles of The Economist in English as the source language (hereinafter S1, S2, etc.) and their translation into Lithuanian as the target language found in IQ magazine (hereinafter IQ). This type of translation usually keeps the SL grammar, word order and the primary meaning of all the components of the linguistic item. Moreover, the words might even be translated out of context by referring to their most common meaning. As it is seen from the examples provided below the allusion to a global centre of technological innovation ‘Silicon Valley’ is translated directly into the TL as ‘Silicio slėnis’ by its dictionary meaning. Similarly, the term referring to the state of political hostility and tension between two countries or opposing power blocs ‘Cold war’ has been rendered by its full equivalent ‘Šaltasis karas’ in the TL.

The SL articles and their TL correspondences contain many other similar allusions that were translated directly, for instance: ‘Berlin Wall’ (S22, 12/03/22) – ‘Berlyno siena’ (IQ, 28/04/22), ‘Global village’ (S2, 16/04/22) – ‘Globalus kaimas’ (IQ, 13/05/22), ‘Trojan war’ (S23, 8/11/21) – ‘Trojos karas’ (IQ, 26/01/22), ‘Greek armada’ (S23, 8/11/21) – ‘graikų armada’ (IQ, 26/01/22), ‘Big brother’ (S24, 16/04/20) – ‘didysis brolis’ (IQ, 29/05/20), etc. All of the cases of allusions presented above are quite familiar to wider audiences and are easily identifiable.

However, the research also brought to light some cases of allusions that are more specific and require particular background knowledge on the subject matter for both the SL and the TL readers. One of the examples is an allusive term ‘Thucydides Trap’, which is associated with the Peloponnesian War and refers to a rising power threatening to displace a ruling one. The direct translation of this allusion into the TL as ‘Tukidido spąstai’ is not really revealing and could not be understood by less educated audiences.

One more example of the use of a specific allusion is the phrase ‘Uncle Sam’ which implies a personified representation of the US government. This term is quite familiar within English-speaking (especially American) audiences and is easily decoded, whereas for Lithuanian readers the direct translation ‘Dėdė Semas’ could cause failure to understand the meaning properly. Other translations (e.g., ‘Amerikos valdžia’) should have been considered as a better alternative to the original translation provided in the TL.

In general, the strategy of direct or word-by-word allusion translation is quite common and is usually utilized for familiar, well-established cases of allusions. However, there are cases when the translator applies this strategy for less known references and relies on the readers’ background knowledge and erudition. 

Strategy 2. Direct translation with minimum change. As it has been mentioned in the literature review this type of allusion translation involves literal translation with some minor alterations without changing the connotative or contextual meaning. One of the most common occurrences of this strategy is the localization or domestication of the proper nouns in accordance with Lithuanian grammar rules by adding appropriate endings, such as -as, -is, etc., as Lithuanian is a highly inflected language where words are required to take endings to define their function in a sentence. The biblical allusion ‘Armageddon’ found in the text of the SL, meaning the last battle between good and evil (first mentioned in the New Testament), is transferred into Lithuanian directly just by adding a relevant case ending – u. 

A similar example is noticed in the translation of a literary allusion ‘Willy Wonka’ (an eccentric fictional character from the children’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) where the name in the TL is adopted to match both Lithuanian spelling and grammar but has no change on the overall meaning of the name itself.

Other collected examples of adopting Lithuanian spelling for allusions in the TL are as follows: ‘Holocaust’ (S25, 29/08/20) – ‘Holokaustas’(IQ, 26/11/20), ‘Nazis’ (S7, 4/09/21) – ‘naciai’ (IQ, 22/10/21), ‘gulag’ (S2, 16/04/22/) – ‘gulagas’ (IQ, 13/05/22), ‘Athenian (power)’ (S3, 8/11/21) – ‘Atėnų (įtaka)’ (IQ, 30/12/21), ‘Artemis’ (S26, 17/07/21) – ‘Artemidė’ (IQ, 27/07/21), ‘apartheid’ (S23, 8/11/21) – ‘apartheidas’ (IQ, 26/01/22), ‘Darwinism’ (S16, 27/02/20)– ‘darvinizmas’(IQ, 8/04/20), ‘(destruction of) Hiroshima and Nagasaki’ (S6, 2/06/22) – ‘(sugriovė) Hirošimą ir Nagasakį’ (IQ, 1/07/22), ‘Rooseveltian (majorities)’ (S27, 8/11/21) – ‘ruzveltiškos (daugumos)’ (IQ, 7/01/22), ‘(Indian) Rockefellers’ (S28, 14/03/22) – ‘(Indijos) Rokfeleriai’ (IQ, 17/06/22), etc.

Some allusions follow the same pattern of translation but are more specific in their nature (e.g., refer to cultural or religious concepts). As the passage from the article in the SL presented below evolves about the election in India, the allusion to one of the major religious festivals in Hinduism ‘Diwali’ has been prudently retained in the translation of the TL just by adding to it the appropriate Lithuanian ending – ui. The given allusion cannot be replaced by any other word, even more familiar to the readers of the TL, as it will not make sense, or the context might lose its authenticity. However, an additional comment or reference that it is a religious festival could bring more clarity to Lithuanian readers.

Some examples that also fall into this category are the cases with slight changes related to Lithuanian spelling – by omitting, adding, or replacing certain letters, as in:

Other instances of allusion translation involve the process of combining words in the TL, for example, Wall Street (the financial markets of the US as a whole) are translated into the TL as one word ‘Volstritas’. Lithuanian readers are very well familiar with this single blend word and are able to make the right associations behind it, whereas the word-by-word translation in this case on the contrary would not evoke correct connotations.

Still, in some cases, the initials or full first names are added in the text of the TL to clarify and specify the context of the provided allusion. The reference to ‘Wells’, a famous English science fiction writer, is rendered into Lithuanian by adding his initials and Lithuanian ending -o but retaining the English spelling of the letter ‘W’ in order not to confuse the reader with other words (e.g., the place name Wales, which sounds the same in Lithuanian) and distort the message.

Similar instances can be observed with the alluded names of the political leaders or famous personas, either by adding the initials to their surname, as in:

or by using the full first name of the person referred to:

The last example reflecting the transference of allusions from English into Lithuanian with minimum alterations involves the change in number, i.e., the singular form in the SL – ‘pickle’ was changed into plural in the TL – ‘marinuotomis daržovėmis’ (pickled vegetables) to sound more natural. The quotation marks have been used in the TL to clarify that ‘Branston’ and ‘Fortnum & Mason’ are famous British brands.

By summing up this type of allusion translation it might be argued that it is one of the amplest instances in the texts of the TL and is mostly related to the localization of the word in order to comply with the rules of the Lithuanian language. It can also involve any other minor additions or alterations that do not affect the connotative or contextual meaning of the linguistic item under the research.

Strategy 3. Addition (extra allusive guidance). Additional information used while translating allusions into the TL is mostly necessary to remove ambiguity caused by unclear words in the TL or to add more specification in cases of words with too general meaning. As the collected examples reveal, the words added in the translated texts are mostly nouns or adjectives that are used to clarify some historical or economical periods, for instance, the allusion in the text of the SL expressed by a single word ‘Depression’ (the worst economic downturn in history) was translated in its full form ‘Didžiosios depresijos’, as an incomplete form is too general and might cause confusion to Lithuanian readers. 

Another example represents the allusions to the following political leaders – Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, George Bush, and Tony Blair. While Western audiences are likely to be acquainted with these names and their shortened versions, Lithuanian readers could fail to grasp the right association. The skilful addition of the word ‘laikais’ (during the times of) facilitates the understanding of the context of the employed allusions.

The examples in the present research included some cases of allusions within the Russian context. Although the original text contains single words ‘Tosca’ and ‘Bolshoi’, the Lithuanian translations are more explicit and include explanatory words ‘Toskos’ pastatymą’ (Tosca performance) and ‘Didžiajame teatre’ (Bolshoi Theatre – Russia’s best-known ballet and opera house).

Sometimes, other parts of speech are added to the rendered allusion in the TL in order to make the translation sound more natural and appealing to the readers. The allusive adjective utopian, referring to a perfect and idealistic state is supplemented by the participle ‘linkę’ (prone to or utopian-minded) because the Lithuanian single-word adjective would not convey the meaning in the right way.

The cases of more detailed clarifications of collected allusions are presented in the passage below.

Strategy 4. Translator’s notes and other explicit explanations. The function of this strategy is similar to the one described above – to remove obscurity or provide appropriate clarification. However, it is done in a more explicit way, for example by addition on a phrase level within the text or by adding comments, footnotes, etc. As the Economist is available as a printed magazine and in a digital format, no cases of footnotes have been used in terms of allusions, for both the SL and TL texts. Nevertheless, there are examples of the comments provided in brackets by the translator or editor in order to bring some clarity to the reader. As in the example below the allusion to an American science fiction action film ‘Logan’s Run’ has been translated into Lithuanian as ‘Logano pabėgimas’ and retained the English translation in the brackets. As it is known film marketing and movie title translation is a very specific area revealing a lot of instances when the original title is very different from its translation. Apparently, the original title of the alluded movie provided in the brackets is related to the translator’s intention to stay safe in case of a mismatch with the already translated version.

A more precise illustration of this type of translation strategy is provided in the following example, where the translator encounters the difficult task of translating the pun ‘Hard Roc’. First of all, the translator introduces the literal translation ‘tvirta uola’ (based on the sound form) and then in the brackets explains that the abbreviation ‘ROC’ also refers to ‘the Republic of China’. Moreover, the phrase ‘Hard Roc’ used in the SL might also allude the readers to ‘Hard Rock’, a subgenre of rock music characterised by a strong beat and heavy use of aggressive vocals.

Another example of an explicit way of rendering an allusion in the text of the TL is observed in the case of ‘baby-boomers’, which was translated as ‘demografinio sprogimo karta’. The translated phrase clearly refers to the rise in birth rate and the added word ‘karta’ (generation) allows the reader to perceive the correct allusion to one of the types of generations.

The next passage contains the French expression ‘beau monde’, which refers to the world of high society and fashion. The French phrase in the text of the TL was replaced by a common Lithuanian phrase as the Lithuanian population is not so aware of French terminology. The allusion ‘Bollinger’ found in the SL was clarified in the TL by adding the word ‘šampanu’ (champagne), giving a clue to the reader of a famous and reputable brand.

The last instance of this category represents two major global events: the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in the USA and the terrorist bombings that occurred in London on July 7, 2005. The extracts reveal how the numerical expression ‘9/11’ and ‘7/7’ in SL text are presented by the translator in quite a detailed way by writing the full date ‘rugsėjo 11-oji’ (11^th of September) and even adding the location (‘Londone’) of the executed terrorism attack in the second case. Otherwise, the readers might have been at a loss and confused because of the misinterpreted information.

To sum up what has been discussed above, the cases of additional references or more explicit explanations accompanying the allusions in the TL are fewer in number in comparison to the previously mentioned strategies. This could be explained by the specifics of the source chosen for the analysis, i.e., the readers of both the Economist and IQ magazines are expected to be knowledgeable and to be able to perceive the provided allusions without any explicit guidance. 

Strategy 5. Replacement using a target language item. This group contains a couple of examples when the translator prefers the method of using a different word/phrase due to the absence of equivalency or doubts that word-by-word translation might acquire undesirable connotations in the TL. The first example is the allusion to an egg-shaped character from an English nursery rhyme which was replaced in the TL by the Lithuanian name ‘Kliunkis Pliumpis’. Although the username has not been created by the translator himself/herself but rather chosen from the already translated version (from a number of existing ones), the translator demonstrated his/her professionalism by finding an appealing and already established counterpart. The employed name is as playful as the one from the SL and is very precise in revealing the characteristics of the English fictional character as being ‘awkward’ and ‘arrogant’. Other strategies, e.g., the adaptation by adding the relevant Lithuanian ending to the original name ‘Humpty Dumpty’ would not sound as convincing as the one provided by the translator in the TL extract below.

The second illustration deals with the alteration of the phrase ‘magic bullets’ (referring to a quick and simple solution to a difficult problem) in the TL in order to correspond to Lithuanian mentality and folklore where namely ‘magic wands’ not ‘bullets’ were used for resolving the problems.

There are cases when the SL audiences are very well acquainted with an employed allusion, but its translation means nothing to the readers in the TL. The use of the allusive word ‘hobgoblin’, implying a mischievous mythological creature, might serve as a good example. There is no such a character in Lithuanian folklore, so the translator replaced it with a common native word ‘trūkumas’ (shortage, disadvantage). However, in order to retain the original intention of the mythological allusion the translator could have used some relevant Lithuanian-context-related words, e.g., ‘baubas’ or ‘siaubas’.

One more similar pattern is followed in the example below. The extract from the SL contains an allusion referring to a well-known agreement in which a person traded his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge. Although it is quite possible that Lithuanian readers are familiar with this legend and could grasp the intention of the English writer, the Lithuanian translation would not have the same effect. It might sound odd and ambiguous. So, the translator replaced the original allusion with a more general word ‘velniu’ (devil), which makes sense and is appropriate in the given context of the TL.

The last example of this type of allusion translation strategy deals with a witty way of employing an allusion in both the SL and the TL. The original text of the SL article contains a sub-headline ‘the lord of the pings’, which is a paraphrase of an epic high-fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings. As the article presents the information related to cybersecurity, a creative play on words with the same sound pattern ‘pings’ and ‘rings’ make the sub-headline very attractive. Moreover, the translator tries to keep the same style and retain the allusion in the TL by replacing the word ‘žiedų’ (rings) with ‘tinklų’ (net), also preserving phonetic consistency.

The TL replacements to the collected allusion are not abundant in numbers but their creative usage allows for achieving similar allusive intentions for the Lithuanian readership as for the English audiences.

Strategy 6. Omission of the allusion or referencing hint that occurs in the original text. This method of allusion translation is the most modest in occurrences as only two examples have been found. However, the cases depicted below are a nice way to represent this category. The first example deals with the presidency of Mr Biden where the original text of the SL involves an allusion to a budget reconciliation framework proposed between 2020 and 2021 titled Build Back Better. The translator and the reader in the TL have to be very well acquainted with the pollical campaign of Mr Biden to understand that this reference provided in the context, as well as the sound form and meaning of the directly translated version, would not have the intended effect. Therefore, the translator omitted this allusion in the text of the TL just transferring the idea in a very general sense.

One more example of excluded allusion is found in the text about the consequences of Covid-19 worldwide. The extract in the SL contains an allusion ‘love jihad’ referring to an Islamophobic conspiracy theory according to which Muslim men lure Hindu women in order to marry them and convert to Islam. Although the phrase could be translated into Lithuanian and might be understood by the TL readers the whole passage already contains a lot of proper names (e.g., Bharatiya Janata Party, Muslims, Hindu, etc.), the translator decided to omit this part just retaining the essential information.

To summarise what has been said in terms of allusion translation in the texts of mass media by omitting it in the TL, it can be said that this translation strategy is not very frequently applied. The exclusion of allusions or their modification in some exceptional cases might enhance the perception of media texts.

Conclusions

The review of theoretical sources on the nature, origin, functioning and translation issues of the allusion, as well as the research performed on practical examples sourced in the articles of The Economist and their corresponding translations into Lithuanian IQ magazine, allowed to formulate the following generalising statements:

1. Theoretically the allusion is defined as a stylistic device that creates extra meaning to the text and makes it more emotionally significant by referring to a worldwide acknowledged and recognized socio-cultural phenomenon.
2. Allusions function intertextually as a subtext within a text and can be used in the forms of either syntactically explicit or syntactically implicit inputs, i.e., separated by quotation marks or implanted as an organic segment of the sentence.
3. The use of allusions is relevant and communicatively efficient when an allusion-based message is noticed and interpreted by the addressee in the author’s intended way, and that is possible only in the case when the referencing and decoding individuals share the same amount of common cultural knowledge.
4. A vast variety of methods for translating allusions are suggested in theoretical sources: from transferring the reference without any change, with partial alterations applied, the addition of explanation, and just omitting or creating a new allusion to make it more comprehensible for the target addressee.
5. The practical analysis of the chosen texts reveals the fact that mass media is a fruitful source of allusions of various types; therefore, The Economist covers a wide range of topics including current affairs, politics, business, technology, and culture and has a broad international circulation, the occurrences of historical, biblical, cultural, and literary allusions were discovered almost in every article under the research.
6. The practical research of the translated Lithuanian articles in the IQ magazine has revealed the tendency of applying six allusion translation strategies: 1) direct or word-by-word translation; 2) direct translation with minimum changes; 3) addition (or extra allusive guidance); 4) translator’s notes and other explicit explanations; 5) replacement using a target language item; 6) omission of the allusion or referencing hint that occurs in the original text; some of them have been more prominent, whereas the others have been employed quite occasionally.
7. The most common ways of allusion translation traced in the target language involve direct translation and direct translation with minimum changes that do not affect the connotative or contextual meaning of the analysed linguistic item; moreover, these processes have been mostly applied for familiar and well-established allusions that do not require explicit strategies and are supposed to be understood by general readers; however, slight changes within the found translated correspondences are related to the localization of the word to comply with the grammatical and spelling rules of the Lithuanian language.
8. As the readership of the analysed sources is expected to be knowledgeable and well-educated, the identified cases of modifying strategies, such as translations with additional guidance, detailed explanations, replacement with a more familiar reference and omissions are fewer in numbers; presumably, the observed instances based on these solutions have been employed by the translator to avoid ambiguity, confusion, and misinterpretation of the original intention of the author.
9. During the course of the research, no cases of footnotes or endnotes have been found in the texts of both the source and target languages, which is in line with the characteristics of such periodic publications.
10. The research also reveals that the choice of allusion translation method is quite subjective and lies on the translator’s personal assumption on which translation solution could be the best possible way to retain the stylistic qualities, emotional charge, communicative potential of the text translated as the culture-specific items translated are properly decoded by the target audience.

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Sources of allusion examples

1. The Economist. Russia is trying to build its own great firewall, 19/02/22/TL translation in IQ, 4/03/22.
2. The Economist. Why so much of the world won’t stand up to Russia, 16/04/22/ TL translation in IQ, 13/05/22.
3. The Economist. Rivalry between America and China will shape the post-covid world, 8/11/21/TL translation in IQ, 30/12/21.
4. The Economist. Middle East activists say that climate can trump politics, 8/11/21/TL translation in IQ, 12/01/22.
5. The Economist. Apple has had a successful decade. The next one looks tougher, 23/08/21/TL translation in IQ, 29/10/21.
6. The Economist. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has eroded the nuclear taboo, 2/06/22/TL translation in IQ, 1/07/22.
7. The Economist. From Congo to the Capitol, conspiracy theories are surging, 4/09/21/TL translation in IQ, 22/10/21.
8. The Economist. South-East Asian tycoons’ high-wire act, 28/05/20/TL translation in IQ, 26/06/20.
9. The Economist. Laser weapons are almost ready for the battlefield, 6/03/20/ TL translation in IQ, 25/04/20.
10. The Economist. Diplomacy has changed more than most professions during the pandemic, 29/04/21/TL translation in IQ, 15/06/21.
11. The Economist. Why the world is saving too much money for its own good, 5/02/22/TL translation in IQ, 10/03/22.
12. The Economist. A weaker post-Brexit Britain looks to America, 30/01/20/TL translation in IQ, 11/03/20.
13. The Economist. Vladimir Putin has shifted from autocracy to dictatorship, 13/11/21/TL translation in IQ, 03/12/21.
14. The Economist. Covid-19 has forced a radical shift in working habits, 12/09/20/TL translation in IQ, 19/10/20
15. The Economist. What Taiwan can learn from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 23/04/22/TL translation in IQ, 6/05/22.
16. The Economist. Companies are increasingly worried about what their employees say, 27/02/20/TL translation in IQ, 8/04/20.
17. The Economist. The EU will try to work out what “strategic autonomy” means, 8/11/21/TL translation in IQ, 31/01/22.
18. The Economist. The aftermath of the pandemic will make politics more turbulent, 8/11/21/TL translation in IQ, 11/01/22.
19. The Economist. Coal is being phased out—in British homes, at least, 8/11/21/TL translation in IQ, 11/01/22
20. The Economist. Ransomware highlights the challenges and subtleties of cybersecurity,19/06/21/TL translation in IQ, 30/06/21.
21. The Economist. A turbulent political year is in store for France, 8/11/21/TL translation in IQ, 6/01/22.
22. The Economist. Amid Russia’s war, America Inc. reckons with the promise and peril of foreign markets, 12/03/22/TL translation in IQ, 28/04/22.
23. The Economist. Cyril Ramaphosa says the world must end vaccine apartheid, 8/11/21/TL translation in IQ, 21/01/22.
24. The Economist. China’s post-covid propaganda push, 16/04/20/TL translation in IQ, 29/05/20.
25. The Economist. Worldwide covid-19 is causing a new form of collective trauma, 29/08/20/TL translation in IQ, 26/11/20.
26. The Economist. America, China and the race to the Moon, 17/07/21/TL translation in IQ, 27/07/21.
27. The Economist. The Biden presidency is likely to be heading towards gridlock, 8/11/21/TL translation in IQ, 07/01/22.
28. The Economist. India is likely to be the world’s fastest-growing big economy this year, 14/03/22/TL translation in IQ, 17/06/22.

Biography of the authors

Rima Jasnauskaite (PhD) is an associate professor at the Language Centre of the Department of Arts and Education of Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution, Lithuania. Research interests: teaching English for professional use, applied research methodology for studies of linguistics, translation of ethnic cultural discourses.

Asta Pukienė is a lecturer at the Language Centre of the Department of Arts and Education of Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution, Lithuania. Research interests: teaching English for specific purposes (English for Public Relations, Business English), English linguistics, lexicology, and stylistics.

Kauno kolegija HEI, Department of Arts and Education, Language Centre, Pramonės avenue 20, Kaunas, Lithuania.