In Search of Cultural Universals:

Translation Universals. Case Studies

Résumé

Knowledge of the world is disclosed under various shapes, among which language is the best representative. Specific to humans, it renders feelings and thoughts concerning different communication contexts where words become dynamic primitives endowed with meanings, which recreate themes and reconfigure space and time as universal coordinates. The main objective of the paper is to provide a tentative analysis of the way in which translation universals are manifest in translating proverbs and sayings in the short novels Popa Tanda (Pope Tanda) and Moara cu Noroc (The Lucky Mill) by Ioan Slavici.