Fantastic Neologisms in Translation: Creature Names in Professional and Amateur Renderings of Sapkowski’s "Witcher" Series into English

Abstract

The paper discusses possible differences between translations of fantasy executed by translators who are themselves members of the source text’s audience, i.e. readers and enthusiasts of the genre, and those who are not, on the example of strategies used to render names of fantastic creatures in the several English translations of works by Andrzej Sapkowski. The examined translations differ in terms of translators’ experience (from amateurs to professionals), competence in the source and target languages and cultures, as well as the presence or absence of series and franchise pressure on consistency. The chief comparison concerns the rendering of nonce formations (mispronounced names) and neosemanticisms (names borrowed by the author from real species for their evocative etymology).