Translation of epic literature of the cognate linguocultures (on the example of Yakut translation of the Altai epos “Maadai-Kara”)

Abstract

  The subject of this research is translation techniques of the epic literature of cognate linguocultures – Altai and Yakut. The relevance of this work is substantiated by the fact that mutual translation of epic texts is continued within the framework of international translation project for releasing a series of bilingual editions “Epic monuments of the Peoples of the World” initiated in Yakutia in 2014. The team translators and editors requires theoretically grounded recommendations for translation into cognate languages using the intermediary language, which in this case is Russian. The difficulties of translation consists in the fact that both epic texts have common origin, similar literary-poetic characteristics and plots. In the course of this research, the author applied the analysis of lexical translation techniques and methods of reconstruction of syntactic peculiarities of the original; compares the similarities and differences between the literary techniques of both epics texts; describes the essence of translation transformations conducted by the creative team in translation of Altai epos into the Yakut language Conducted in the Soviet time academic translations of epic texts of the peoples of the USSR into the Russian language are of high quality and conveyed national identity of the original. Russian language as an intermediary language gives fullest possible comprehension of the content of the original. If the language is of third linguistic culture and incapable of accurately conveying the national realias and poetic beauty of the original, the translators can refer to the original in the language unfamiliar to them. In order to adequately convey a particular realia, the translators should understand the similarity of common Turkic realias in both linguocultures and resist the temptation to replace the Altai realia with the analogous of their native linguoculture; as well as be able to shape a new word or phrase so that they would sound organically in the target language, but at the same time look non-native, alien, and foreign.