PECULIARITIES OF STYLISIC MEANS REPRODUCTION IN THE GERMAN – UKRAINIAN TRANSLATION (ON THE BASIS OF JUDITH HERMAN’S SHORT STORIES)

Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of stylistic devices in the short stories “Ruth (Freundinnen) ” and “Wohin des Weges” by Judith Herman, included in the collection “Nichts als Gespenster”, and the means by which they are rendered into Ukrainian in the translations by Natalka Sniadanko. The selection, systematisation and classifi cation of the stylistic devices of the source text were made using the descriptive method with the elements of observation. The quantitative analysis was employed in order to obtain quantitative data and relation between them; the method of contextual analysis was used for the determination of the language units interaction within the work of fi ction; the content and the form of the source texts were analysed and compared with the form and the content of the target texts, which allowed us to reveal a number of convergent and divergent features in the languages under study and fi nd out how the translator deals with the challenges in translation and also indicate the elements of the source texts that are not translated. The analysis of the short stories shows that the author following all the requirements to writing a short story, narrates simply and laconically, and at the same time aptly and clearly, which requires choosing appropriate stylistic means in the target text. It is important to take into consideration the fact that the translation of fi ction that is semantically and structurally close to the source text often fails to render the expressiveness and author’s idea, therefore the translator needs to use creatively stylistic means of the target language. It has been revealed that metaphors, epithets, similes, metonymies, and phraseological units were used to obtain fi gurativeness of the text. The fi ndings show that the translator, taking into account the tendency of brevity and colloquial use in a short story, rendering the content of the text, often resorts to simplifi cation by omitting long descriptions and repetitions. Occasionally, in order to clarify some information the addition is used. Translating metaphors N. Sniadanko tried to preserve the image by using different types of transformation: grammatical (transposition), lexical semantic (contextual change, variant equivalents, descriptive method). Epithets were merely translated by means of equivalents, variant equivalents and contextual change. Similes were also translated by their equivalents; original similes were rendered by the descriptive method, often losing simile structure. Metonymies, in case of similar means of expression in both languages, were translated by equivalents, in other cases with the help of contextual change. Phraseological units were translated using the method of omission and absolute equivalents. The further research is promising in terms of revealing translation methods and techniques necessary for rendering the stylistic properties of source texts and the most typical peculiarities of the Ukrainian translation of modern German authors. Keywords: translation, short story, stylistic devises, translation transformations, equivalence.