Translation of Cultural Elements

Abstract

In my thesis I examine the theories and practices of adapting one culture's text into another culture. First I write about cultural elements of translation and equivalency. I compare the original text of On the Road and the two Hungarian translations by Tibor Bartos and György Déry. The reason why I chose Jack Kerouac's novel is that it is the most important (along with Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl” ) and not to mention the most popular piece of art of the Beat Generation. It captures a subculture wich had no Hungarian equivalent, but still it was quite influential on Hungarian youths. The reason I chose On the Road for further investigation is that it as a cult classic created a whole subculture in Hungary and inspired hundreds of young people to hit the road so to speak. Still the original text and the translated texts have a different dimension in many ways. I analyze if the translations managed to capture the atmosphere of the original text and to adapt the culturally bound items as well.