A Comparative Study on the Cultural Terms of the Drama The Caucassian Chalk Circle (English) by Bertolt Bretcht and Hunu Vataye Kathawa (Sinhala) by Henry Jayasena.

Abstract

Translating the cultural terms is a challenging task in non technical translation. Nonetheless, if the translation is done in the very same context of the source text, the task of the translator becomes much easier. The aim of the study is to analyse the cultural issues and how language has been used in the two translations, The Caucassian Chalk Circle, the English translation by Bertolt Bretcht and “Hunu vataye katawa”, the Sinhala translation by Henry Jayasena. Data was collected from the two translations. Accordingly, it was discovered that cultural words appearing in one translation can be entirely different from those of the original. For an example, Elm tree in the English translation is translated as “Ehela gasa” in the Sinhala translation and the word “Goose” is translated as “kukula” in the Sinhala translation, which are completely different. Therefore having sufficient knowledge regarding both the cultural backgrounds are vital in order to overcome the problems encountered in translating. Thus, translating the particular source text is not easy as the cultural background, cultural terms and the characters belong to a different context of the other language. Translators encounter several complications due to both language and cultural barriers, as translation within two different cultural contexts is much harder. Therefore, the translation becomes difficult if the audience belongs to a different cultural background. Thus, the translator should handle the language carefully without doing any harm to the original text.