Translating Text World-Specific Elements: Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl

Abstract

This MA thesis discusses translation difficulties found in Paolo Bacigalupi’s science fiction novel The Windup Girl, in particular those which are caused by its nova. From a translation-oriented point of view, the investigation focusses on the novel’s text world-specific elements (TWSEs). Through a discussion of the possible and desirable ways of translating these elements, a translation strategy is proposed. As a test-case, two passages from the novel are translated into Dutch using this strategy. The conclusion reflects on the desirability of the proposed translation strategy and suggests further research.