Problems and Solutions in Literary Translation: Preserving Cultural Identity in the Cross-Linguistic Rendering of Fiction

This article examines the persistent difficulties that arise when literary works are transferred from one language and culture into another, with particular attention to the loss of cultural identity, stylistic nuance, and connotative meaning that often accompanies such transfer. Drawing on established approaches within comparative literary studies and translation theory, the article classifies the main categories of translation loss encountered in fiction — lexical-cultural gaps, idiomatic and phraseological untranslatability, and shifts in narrative voice — and proposes a set of practical strategies that translators can apply to minimize these losses while retaining readability for the target audience. The discussion is framed within the broader context of comparative linguistics and translation studies as an academic discipline, and it argues that a hybrid, context-sensitive methodology, rather than a single universal technique, offers the most reliable path toward faithful literary translation.