Abstract
This article seeks to undertake a concise analytical inventory of the difficulties encountered in translating the cultural references and allusions (culture-bound elements) found in three novels by the Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun – L’enfant de sable, La Nuit sacrée, and Le mariage de plaisir – all translated into Romanian. After advocating for a culturally informed hermeneutic approach to translation of this rich and award-winning oeuvre, which has significantly influenced both Francophone and Arabophone readerships, we proceed to a series of illustrative examples accompanied by critical commentary. Drawing on our perspective as semi-professional translators, we aim to foreground the difficulties, hesitations, and challenges inherent in the practice of (inter)cultural mediation through literary translation.