Translation of neologisms in Douglas Adams’ works The

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to present the results of an analysis of the translation of neologisms in science-fiction novels by Douglas Adams, i.e. the series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the book The Salmon of Doubt. The aim was to identify how certain terms and expressions are translated. In the theoretical part of the paper, I define neologisms as well as science fiction, and discuss their translations. The relevant translation strategies and methods are briefly described. The practical part consists of an analysis of the translations of 57 neologisms. These are analysed in terms of the strategies used for their translation and the adequacy of the translation. The findings indicate that the translator has provided a creative translation as a functional equivalent a number of times, whereas there are almost no cultural equivalents. From the analysis, it is evident that translating science fiction into Slovene is not straightforward.