Traduction et adaptation des éléments ­culturels dans les textes scientifiques

The reading of scientific articles reveals that references to non-scientific cultural elements are numerous in this type of texts, particularly in those published in scientific magazines. Indeed, the integration of new knowledge into existing one is only possible if the reader is able to relate new elements to his or her cultural background or daily experiences: comparisons, examples and metaphors play an important role in this process.Although some of these elements can be automatically transferred when translating into another language, others would hardly be “interpretable” by the reader of the translation, and the translator has to apply mechanisms of adaptation. In this article, my intention is to examine the different mechanisms of adaptation used in a corpus of texts published in American magazines and translated into French, to analyse the characteristics of the segments which have been adapted and to identify the criteria that might guide the translator in his or her choices.