Suvremena lingvistika, Vol. 52 No. 101, 2026.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.22210/suvlin.2026.101.09
One Hundred Metaphors in One Hundred Years of Solitude: Can Artificial Intelligence Translate Literature?
Ana Stanić
orcid.org/0000-0001-9195-2776
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* Dopisni autor.
Sažetak
The paper examines the extent to which a translation of a literary text generated by artificial intelligence tools (ChatGPT, Gemini) can measure up to the translation choices made by literary translators (Nina Lanović, Nikola Milićević), considering the very nature of human language and human cognition, i.e., the processes of “conceptualisation” and “construal”, which encompass the metaphorical and metonymic dimensions of language and are particularly salient in literary texts. The corpus is divided into four
categories: conventional metaphors which can be translated with the same conceptual domains in the source and the target language; conventional metaphors translated with different conceptual domains; innovative metaphors; and non–metaphorical expressions translated by metaphorical ones. A detailed traductological analysis of a total of 400 translated expressions – on the lexical, morphological, and syntactic levels – has demonstrated that the degree of accuracy and metaphoricity in the translations conducted by AI tools is the lowest in the categories of conventional metaphors translated with different conceptual domains and
innovative metaphors. This finding can be attributed to the fact that these categories require the highest degree of cognitive effort, creativity, innovation, and familiarisation with cultural and narrative imagery. The analysis shows that, in translation, AI tools tend to prioritise denotative meanings of expressions, while connotative and figurative meanings are retained and successfully conveyed exclusively in cases where they are formally identical to denotative ones. This results in translations that are semantically flattened, depriving them of the elements of “defamiliarisation” and “estrangement” which are essential to preserving literariness.
Ključne riječi
literary translation; artificial intelligence; conceptual metaphor; construal
Hrčak ID:
349608
URI
Datum izdavanja:
22.7.2026.
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