Adaptación y neutralización en la traducción de los nombres propios: Baltagul/El hacha

Given the special nature of proper names, the strategies of rendering them from one language into another vary from literal transfer (non-translation), phonetic translation or morphological adaptation, to complete substitution in the target language. Beyond the primary function of identification, proper names often play a crucial role, especially in fiction, because of their semantic load. The task of the translator is to come up with solutions to compensate for the loss of information, by providing intratextual or extratextual glosses and using different creative techniques. The present paper analyses the translation into Spanish of a classical Romanian novel, focusing on the delicate decision-making process that enabled the translator to accomplish the role of a cultural mediator, and on the possibilities of exploiting the comparison between the source text and the target text as a pedagogical tool for stimulating the students’ critical thinking