Translating nature: A corpus-based study

Abstract

In contemporary nature writing, beauty can indeed be said to be "in the eye of the beholder". English-Canadian and French authors of such texts often perceive and describe their natural surroundings in very individual, though culturally shared, ways. English-Canadian and French authors have developed quite different approaches to nature writing, and this difference becomes clearly apparent through a contrastive analysis of two corpora: nature writing intended for English-Canadian readers and similar texts addressed to French readers. Through the juxtaposition of these texts, the cultural topoi of each linguistic set are drawn out. In an environment where forces of globalization are bringing more languages and cultures into contact, an analysis of this type sets forth the "culturemes" that practising translators need to be aware of and respond to. A sample text that takes the findings into account illustrates this.