Dilemmas of Cultural Mediation: A Case Study of Tourism

Abstract

Travelling implies the encounter and, in certain cases, the clash of cultures. By interpreting translation as a means of transfer between languages and cultures, the present study looks into the different views on translating culture-specific realia. Through a close analysis of texts with the purpose of informing foreign tourists it offers ways of how to carry out this mediation. The study calls for further research into closely related issues, such as the translator’s cultural awareness of and sensitivity to similarity and difference, identity and alterity in culture.

Keywords

• culture
• realia
• mediation
• tourism
• travel
• pragmatic equivalence