LANGUAGE TABOOS IN TRANSLATION

Abstract

The “ugliness” of words in the dictionary (or their omission due to their “ugliness”) is not an inherent linguistic property, but a socio-cultural phenomenon: aversion is typically inherited from referential “taboo” topics, but words can often become detached from these, becoming mere performative gestures. The norms concerning words and their topics often separate, and the economics of language allows us to discuss these topics avoiding taboo words. In the emancipatory rearrangement of social norms, new taboo topics emerge, while other topics are freed from prohibition, changing the illocution of the words associated with them. In the deeper layers of language, on the other hand, certain words remain stable and retain their context-independent, visceral impact. The shifting of norms, which varies greatly from language to language, but is particularly dynamic today, creates new obstacles to cultural transfer. The presentation will discuss these difficulties illustrated with literary examples.