The present dissertation investigates literary translation from a cultural perspective by comparing the translation of culture-specific words and concepts in five different translations of the novel Ein weites Feld by Günter Grass. The translations were chosen to represent three 'small' (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) and two 'large' (American English, French) languages and cultures, in order to find out whether these categories are characterized by different 'foreignizing' or 'domesticating' translation methods.

The main purpose of the study is to present an empirical and descriptive analysis of the concrete difficulties and possibilities connected with the process of transferring culture-specific words and concepts taken from the geographical, historical, literary and every- day context of the original work. A further aim of the study is to undertake a comparison of theory and practice of translation with regard to culture and culture-specific words.