Translation Challenges in Rendering Idiolects of Literary Characters

Abstract

The article focuses on the challenges in rendering idiolects of literary characters. Idiolect as a means of speech characterisation of personages enables the researchers to see personages as linguistic personalities. Idiolects can fulfil several functions: comparative, psychological, distinctive, and characterising. It is shown that an integral character image is only possible to depict taking into consideration the specific features of characters’ idiolects, which help the reader to discern a character’s social status, age, educational background, gender, and emotional state. The aim of the article is to identify the challenges in rendering idiolects of literary characters, such as phonetic distortion of words, non-equivalent lexis, and non-standard syntax and to examine the relevant translation strategies and tactics of idiolect reproduction. Based on a comparative analysis of the original and translated texts, the research yielded a number of translation strategies such as the strategy of maximum preservation of idiolect characteristics and the strategy of partial preservation of idiolect characteristics. In the framework of the strategy of maximum preservation of idiolect characteristics, the tactic of parallel translation, the tactic of applying functional equivalents and the tactic of phonetic matching are singled out. In the framework of the strategy of partial preservation of idiolect characteristics, the tactics of compensation, omission, preservation, and substitution are singled out.