Modern Translation Studies Research Articles

APPLICATION OF EQUIVALENT TRANSLATION AND LEXICAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN TRANSLATION OF ABSTRACT NOUNS (cased on the material of the work of S. Collins “The Hunger Games”)

The article generally analyzes the translation methods of abstract nouns in the fantastic work “The Hunger Games” by S. Collins using equivalent translation and lexical transformations. This question is relevant for modern translation studies since abstract nouns play asignificant role in the systems of modern languages of the world and are a large group among other classes of nouns. The author explores the specifics of translating abstract concepts in the context of fantasy literature and considers various strategies that can be used to preserve the meaning and emotional nuance of the original. Based on examples from The Hunger Games, the author shows which vocabulary transformations can be used to achieve the most accurate and effective translation. The results of the study indicate the importance of a careful approach to the translation of abstract nouns in the fantasy genre and the use of various translation strategies. The relevance of the research, therefore, is determined by the insufficient degree of study of the problem of translating abstract nouns in fiction from English to Ukrainian. We see the prospects of the research in the analysis of lexical transformations in the translation of textfragments with abstract nouns in the Ukrainian language.

An Eco-Translatology Approach to Analyzing the English and Arabic Translations of Pamuk's My Name is Red

The trajectory of translating Pamuk’s literary heritage into more than sixty languages attracts the attention of a number of scholars (e.g. Horta, 2017, EriŞ, 2019). Pamuk’s unique mingling of Eastern and Western cultures makes it significant to scrutinize the dispositions and worldviews of translators. This paper aims at depicting the eco-linguistic cultural plethora of factors that play a role in the translator’s lexico-grammatical decisions. To this end, the English translation of Pamuk’s My Name is Red by Göknar (2001), as well as the Arabic one by Abdulli (2000) are dissected. Lexico-cultural behaviours concomitant to the representation of nature in both target texts are analysed. Results shed light on how eco-translatology can help inform and give insights to modern translation studies.

METHODOLOGY OF COGNITIVE-DISCURSIVE MODELLING OF LITERARY TRANSLATION (case study of Ukrainian retranslations of W. Shakespeare’s tragedies of the 19th–21st centuries)

The article provides theoretical and methodological substantiation for the step-by-step construction of a cognitive-discursive model of the diachronic plurality in translation of a time-remote original work, which appears as a tool for revealing the internal mechanisms of translating a literary work and determining the criteria for the adequacy of the original and translation. This is a case study of W. Shakespeare’s tragedies as time-remote original works of England of the late 16th – early 17th centuries and their Ukrainian retranslations of the 19th–21st centuries. The algorithm of the complex methodology of cognitive-discursive modelling of literary translation, which incorporates the methods of discourse analysis and cognitive translation studies, involves five stages of construction of three modules: discursive, cognitive, and retranslation. The construction of a discursive module, the aim of which is to reveal the objective and subjective factors that influence the process and result of the translator’s interpretation of a time-remote original work, involves the construction of three components – extralingual, lingual, and interpretation, which takes place in the first three stages. The fourth stage is the building of a cognitive module, which reveals the internal mechanisms of the translation process caused by cognitive consonance (harmonious identity of the mental processes of the author and the translator) or cognitive dissonance (epistemological, ideological, and cultural-aesthetic). Cognitive consonance and cognitive dissonance result from the similarities and differences in the contexts of original creation and retranslations, which are previously defined in the discursive module. The translator’s decision to choose one or another translation strategy and local tactic in conditions of cognitive consonance or cognitive dissonance determines different degrees of cognitive proximity of the original and the translation: cognitive equivalence, cognitive analogy, and cognitive variance. The fifth stage is the construction of a retranslation module, which affirms that the translator’s choice of strategy (modernization or archaization, domestication or foreignization) and tactic (reproductive or adaptive) of transformational translation is conditioned by cognitive consonance or dissonance. The relevance of the research is determined by its appeal to the leading cognitive-discursive paradigm of modern translation studies and by the tendency of cognitive translation studies for the translation process modelling, according to which not only the translation result is the subject of study, but also the prerequisites that determine the translator’s approach to the reproduction of the original text in one way or another. Analysis and comparison of retranslations of a time-remote original text in the course of modelling the process of literary translation allows following the influence of discursive and cognitive factors on the process and result of translation. The creation of the cognitive-discursive model of the diachronic plurality in translation of the time-remote original text explains the translation decisions regarding the choice of the general strategy and local tactic of retranslations and, respectively, the diachronic plurality in translations of a time-remote original text.

Translation Principles in Modern Cognitive Paradigm

The article discusses the cognitive-communicative principles of modern translation studies based on the cognitive paradigm, which focuses on the cognitive activities of translators and the information, knowledge, and meanings contained in texts and discourses. The aim of the research is to develop principles of translation studies from the perspective of this paradigm. The research methodology is based on the author’s concept of translation space, which operates with the concepts of cognition, synergy, and harmony; the concept of “epistemic situation,” which reveals the extralinguistic semantic basis of scientific texts as a triad of ontology, methodology, and axiology; and cognitive studies of language and translation. The methodological approach to the practical analysis of translation implemented in the article is based on the principles of synergy, which reveal the regularities of complex linguo-cognitive systems. The axiological orientation of translation is based on the idea of harmony as a semantic proportionality, which serves as a criterion for translation quality. Fragments of texts from the scientificphilosophical discourse of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault in Russian and French served as empirical material for analyzing how the principles of translation studies work. As a result of the research, anthropocentric, epistemological, and reflexive-conceptual principles of translation studies are characterized.

PROBLEMS OF ADAPTATION OF KAZAKH FICTION (ON THE EXAMPLE OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT TRANSLATIONS OF A. NURPEISOV'S NOVEL "SONGY PARYZ")

The need for language mediators dates back to ancient times. It was caused by the lack of society to establish cultural, commercial, political, and other contacts between geographically and linguistically distant communities. Indirect translation served as a bridge between “small or regional” languages through a global language. In the modern world, indirect translation remains a pervasive form of interaction in a wide range of human spheres. Due to the globalization of international contacts, in the organization of international conferences and forums, communication is conducted through international languages. The article aims to consider ways of adaptation of Kazakh fiction through comparative analysis of direct translation into Russian and indirect translation into English of Nurpeisov’s novel “Songy Paryz”. Objectives 1) to generalize and substantiate the approaches of comparative analysis of the source text, the intermediary text, and the target text in modern translation studies; 2) to determine the causes, specificity, and role of indirect translations; 3) to carry out structural-system analysis aimed at identifying translation transformations and techniques as strategies used in two translations, to identify their appropriateness and significance and objective need for representation of the writer’s authorial style. The authors offer their translation of the excerpts under consideration to identify discrepancies between translations and the source text. The study results would be interesting for scholars in linguistics, translation studies, linguocultural studies, and literary criticism.

The fresh trends of modern translation studies

Ushbu maqolada zamonaviy tarjimashunoslikda yangicha tendensiyalar qo'llash bo'yicha fikrlar yoritilgan. Hozirgi zamonaviy tarjimalarda qo'lianilayotgan amaliyotlar bugungi kunning dolzarb mavzularidan biridir. Tarjima sohasida yangiliklar va texnologiyalar ham o'zgarib turib, bu sohani rivojlantirishgayordam beradi. Bu esa tarjima nazariyasi va amaliyotiningyanada rivojlanishiga olib keladi

The latest methods in modern translation studies

Tarjima muhim va sezgir manbadirinsoniyat tsivilizatsiyasiga va asrlar davomida xalqlar o'rtasidagi yaqinlashuvga xizmat qiladi. Bu axloqiy, ijtimoiy va estetik qadriyatlarni boshqasiga o'tkazishga sezilarli hissa qo'shgan madaniyatlar. Maqolaning maqsadi eng muhim zamonaviy usullarni ta'kidlashdir zamonaviy tarjima san’ati va u qay darajada bardosh bera olishini anglash hozirgi vaziyat. Tanlangan yondashuv analitik tavsiflovchi hisoblanadi. The tadqiqot shuni ko'rsatdiki, zamonaviy tarjima hali ham muomalada to'siqlarga duch kelmoqda madaniy, ijtimoiy va iqtisodiy xususiyatlari bilan.

On Inconsistencies and Strategies, or How to Translate the Unnatural Naturally

This article highlights the results of an experimental study dedicated to analysing the concept of translation naturalness in terms of the processoriented paradigm of Translation Studies. The multidisciplinary nature of modern Translation Studies is revealed through applying methods, concepts, and theories of different areas of knowledge in regard to different translation-related phenomena as well as translation itself. Experimental methods devised by cognitive psychology for exposing the mechanisms of decision-making in complex processes have proven their validity in translatology for the last thirty years. The aim of the study is to investigate the translators’ decisions intended to make their output look more natural. Our hypothesis is that such decisions are in particular motivated by aspiration to eliminate different types of inconsistencies that can potentially result in unnaturalness in the target text. To verify this hypothesis, we developed and conducted an introspective experiment based on the think-aloud methodology. The material for the study was taken from Terry Pratchett’s novel A Hat Full of Sky, within which we singled out three control elements characterised by structural, semantic or stylistic inconsistency. The analysis of the TAPs of ten semi-professional subjects demonstrated that they did not always successfully identify the inconsistencies in the control elements, but when they did, their reaction was to apply strategies aimed at eliminating them and therefore enhancing the target text naturalness.

STYLISTIC LITERALISMS: DEFINITION AND TYPOLOGY

The description of literal translation problematics is an age long tradition. Notwithstanding this fact, many dimensions of literalisms have been open for academic research both in theoretical and practical aspects. The article focuses on such kind of literalisms as stylistic literalisms and explores their definition and typology. The subject matter of this article is crucially topical and reflects the current demand of modern theory of translation for new and profound research in this sphere. The objective of the article is to describe stylistic literalisms through the prism of modern Translation Studies. The objective determined the tasks of the research: to clarify and describe literalisms and the factors of their creation, to define the term “stylistic literalism” and to classify their multifaceted essence. Our study relies substantially on the application of linguistic descriptive methodology and devices. The innovation of this article relies in specifying the quintessence of “stylistic literalism” notion which is relevant for understanding the translation interference mechanism and crucial for modern Translation Studies; highlighting and analyzing different types of stylistic literalisms; grounding the comprehensive definition of literalism — key term of modern Translation Studies. The article claims that stylistic literalisms are the result of interference between two languages which leads to violation of target language stylistic norms. Various factors of stylistic literalisms origins contribute to their types selection: difference in relative frequency of definite word; ignorance of the erase metaphor degree; distinction in stylistic tone of source and target texts; stylistic discrepancies among words of different languages or within the boundaries of one target text; disparities in connotations; vague and sloppy phrases in translation text.

E.I. Kychanov’s Translation of the “Revised and Newly Approved Code of the Heavenly Prosperity Reign” in the Context of the Development of Modern Translation Studies

E.I.Kychanov was well known in Chinese academic circles since 1980s, and his translations of ancient Tangut manuscripts into Russian are often used by Chinese scholars as reference material. This article focuses on the scholar’s translation of the Tangut “Revised and Newly Approved Code of the Heavenly Prosperity Reign (1149–1168)” and analyzes some features of his translation work, his chosen strategies and methods, and also comments on the Chinese specialists’ attitude to E.I.Kychanov’s translation of the Tangut legal text.

ВАРИАНТЫ ПОВТОРНОГО ПЕРЕВОДА КЛАССИЧЕСКИХ ПРОИЗВЕДЕНИЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ СОНЕТА 116 У. ШЕКСПИРА)

The article presents part of the research on retranslation in modern translation studies both in Russia and abroad. Some factors and causes are characterised as being important for choosing world classical works of literature, namely the status of the author and his/her creative works in the world community, his/her popularity at a certain time of the society development, the obsolescence of previous translations, from the view point of modern cultural realia, the aim of the translator to present his/her interpretation of the original text, etc. Of great importance is the study of William Shakespeare’s works who is a world literature classic. The translations of Shakespeare’s works into Russian are considered to be the best translations from English into a foreign language. The article analyses the degree of translation’s adequacy which is one of the most important criteria of translation quality.

The Ambivalent Translator: Towards a History of Psychoanalytic Translations

An influential strand within modern translation studies has drawn a portrait of the translator as a deeply ambivalent figure, charged with the challenging task of preserving the foreign of the original work within the new version, and thus as inevitably torn between two languages and cultures. The case of the first English translations of Freud's work, undertaken by Abraham Arden Brill, is used here to demonstrate that a detailed historical and philological analysis of textual practices can help us situate the figure of the ambivalent translator in its proper context, namely within a historical model of translation. Retracing this model and its ramifications also has larger implications for an approach that should allow us to understand the relational, affective and institutional bonds connecting authors, translators and readers in global processes of cultural transmission of the human sciences.

Translation of realia in modern translation studies: peculiarities of translating realia from Russian into Arabic

يتناول البحث المهمة المعقدة لترجمة الوقائع، أو العناصر المحددة ثقافيا، من الروسية إلى العربية. حيث يدرس المشكلات المتعلقة بالواقعيات، ويقترح استراتيجيات الترجمة، ويناقش الآثار الأوسع لدراسات الترجمة الحديثة. يسلط البحث الضوء على صعوبات ترجمة الوقائع التي تشكل جزءا لا يتجزأ من ثقافة وتقاليد حيث يتم الكشف عن الخصوصية النادرة للغة العربية المرتبطة بقوانين اللغة الاساسية. ويسلط الضوء على اللحظات الصعبة لترجمة الوقائع، التي تنعكس فيها ثقافة الشعب والدين والعادات وهيكل كل لغة

About the problem of wordplay transmission (based on the material of English and Russian advertising texts)

The object of the study is examples of the use of wordplay in the advertising texts translated from English into Russian. The subject of the study is the translation techniques used by translators to preserve the communicative orientation and impact on the reader. The choice of the research object is due to the prevalence of advertising text in the modern world, which implies the need to develop common translation standards and examples of solutions to emerging difficulties. The problem of translating different types of wordplay has been little studied in modern linguistics, which determines the need for further research. Even less studied is the problem of translating wordplay in advertising slogans in a comparative aspect. The analysis of the collected material allowed us to identify three main translation strategies: the transmission of wordplay, in which the method of wordplay formation is preserved; transmission, in which the preservation of the method of wordplay formation is impossible or undesirable; transmission, in which the preservation of wordplay itself is impossible. In the latter case, translators often have to sacrifice the communicative effect, which is not desirable from the standpoint of modern translation studies. The article concludes that the linguistic features of slogans and, in particular, the use of wordplay in them must be taken into account when translating in order to ensure maximum preservation of communicative intent and communicative effect.

The concept of “the Lamb of God” («ὁ ἀµνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ») in English, German and Russian translations of the Gospel of John

The interpretation of biblical concepts is a complex translation problem, the method of literal translation cannot solve it. The search for lexical matches in the target language is not always systematic. A comprehensive solution to this problem is possible within the framework of the conceptual theory of metaphor, which allows you to rethink the process of translating biblical concepts. The article explores the implementation of the concept «the Lamb of God» («ὁ ἀµνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ») in the translations of the Gospel of John into English, German and Russian in the light of modern research on the conceptual theory of metaphor. The purpose of the study is to analyze the degree of implementation of the concept «the Lamb of God» («ὁ ἀµνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ») in translations of the Gospel of John. The work uses the MIPVU method to identify metaphors in the original text of the Gospel of John, as well as methods of analysis and synthesis to assess the adequacy of the translation of the concept « the Lamb of God» in the context of the biblical conceptual field. As a result of the study, it was revealed that in the English, German and Russian translations of the Gospel of John, the concept of the «the Lamb of God» («ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ») of the original text is not fully implemented. The absence of a separate lexical unit leads to confusion in the translations of the «Lamb» («ἀμνὸς») from the Gospel of John and the «Lamb» («ἀρνίον») from the Apocalypse, which distorts the meaning of the translations. The application of the MIPVU method to identify metaphors in the biblical text, as well as an integrated approach to the translation of biblical concepts, is a developing direction in modern translation studies. Modern advances in the field of metaphor theory make it possible to create new translations of the Bible that are accessible to readers who are not familiar with the biblical conceptual field.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROF. V.N. KOMISSAROV’S TRANSLATION THEORY IN СHINA

V.N. Komissarov as a famous theoretician in the sphere of translation was introduced to his Chinese colleagues in 1984, when modern translation theory just started in China. For forty years now, his translation theories have been disseminated, adopted, and developed. V.N. Komissarov’s major works, including Questions of Translation Theory in Foreign Linguistics (1978), Linguistics of Translation (1980), Translation Theory (Linguistic Aspects) (1990) and Modern Translation Studies (1999), have been reviewed in Chinese academic journals. His last monograph, Modern Translation Studies (2004), was translated into Chinese. Chinese translation studies introduced his theoretical ideas in the sphere of translation, such as the nature of translation, translation equivalence, translation models, translation correspondences, translation norms, translation pragmatics, textological aspects of translation studies, cultural and sociological aspects of translation studies, translation teaching methodology, etc. Certain ideas, such as pragmatic translation adaptation, have been further developed. In general, V.N. Komissarov’s theoretical viewpoints have been studied and summarized in many scientific papers and various works, which contributed to the development of Chinese translation theory. Moreover, his translation thoughts are widely used by Chinese scholars for theoretical research and the training of future translators. Some of V.N. Komissarov’s views are applied to the study of the function of cultural translation, translation adaptation, the definition of translation, translation of the national style of speech and other theoretical problems. The scholar’s theory of translation is most often used to address a variety of issues in translation practice. The most influential theory is undoubtedly the theory of translation equivalence. While using this theory, numerous master theses and translation reports analyze issues in both fiction and information translation, as well as problems in interpretation and audiovisual translation.

COMPRESSION IN SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETING IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF DISCOURSE

In modern translation studies, compression has come to be regarded as a linguistic operation, as a translation strategy. However, the cognitive process that underlies compression has not been taken into consideration. The authors believe that compression is based on selecting a functional equivalent to the source message, provided that the cultural concepts in both languages overlap. Th e article aims at studying compression pragmatically in various types of discourse in the process of simultaneous interpretation. To reach this goal the authors provide an overview of the previous research that facilitates the analysis of compression from the point of view of discourse; study the linguistic basis of compression; and analyze compression from pragmatic and cognitive perspectives. As a result, a model is proposed which presupposes a cognitive selection of a functional equivalent to the source message based on overlapping cultural concepts in two languages. Two principles of interpretation are analyzed: the principle of reproduction is based on a thorough reproduction of all the elements that make up the source message, while the principle of replacement involves selecting a communicatively adequate variant of interpretation that would perform similar functions in the given context. In order to establish correlations between cultural concepts an interpreter has to be well-versed in cultural coordinates system of both languages within a certain discourse. On a lower level of understanding compression is limited to omitting redundant elements and replacing them with more concise versions, lexically and/or syntactically, while preserving the informative components of the message. On a higher level of understanding that appeals to the cultural concepts and the language of thought (mentalese), compression involves selecting a ready-made functional equivalent that already exists in the target language and is normally more concise in form.

E.I. Kychanov’s Translation of “The Revised and Newly Endorsed Code of the ‘Celestial Prosperity’ Reign” in the Context of the Development of Modern Translation Studies

Evgeny I. Kychanov was well known in Chinese academic circles since 1980s, and his translations of the ancient Tangut manuscripts into Russian are often used by Chinese scholars as reference material. This article is based on the example of The Revised and Newly Endorsed Code of the Celestial Prosperity Reign (11491168) translated by the scholar from Tangut into Russian; it analyzes some features of his translation work, his chosen strategies and methods, as well as gives comments of the Chinese specialists attitude to E.I. Kychanovs translation of the Tangut written source.

ECOLOGY OF TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH MODAL VERBS

In the context of globalization, a substantial increase in public attention to the processes occurring in the environment caused by the climate crisis and global warming, the so-called ‘green agenda’ is gaining significant importance. Undoubtedly, human language plays one of the most important roles in all aspects of life. Therefore, even more important are the consequences of the ‘cognitive revolution’ of the mid-late twentieth century which made it possible to combine such different, but, as it has turned out, significantly related elements of humanitarian knowledge as ecology and linguistics. As a result, an interesting blend was formed, which is now known both in the national and foreign scientific space, under the umbrella term ‘ecolinguistics’. The importance and relevance of ecolinguistic research is supported by a significant number of articles, dissertations, and research projects currently being developed in Ukraine and beyond. One of such projects is the study of translation ecology which is singled out by some scholars as a new independent branch of modern translation studies. This article is devoted to the issue of translation ecology where the object matter of research is modern English scientific and technical discourse, its subject matter being the peculiarities of the translation of English modal verbs and constructions into Ukrainian.
 In the course of the research, we have found that the ecology of translation is, of course, a branch of ecolinguistics – a modern linguistic discipline the development of which is being studied by specialists in Ukraine and abroad, and the main topic of eco-translation studies is the analysis of the correctness and adequacy of the content transfer of the source text into the target language. Based on the analysis of the illustrative material selected from the corpus of English texts on scientific and technical topics, it has been found that when translating English modal constructions it is necessary to take into account the significant differences between the semantic-conotative systems of the English and Ukrainian languages which can be explained by their typology where the former is an example of an analytical language system, and the latter – synthetic.

АНТРОПОЦЕНТРИЗМ ЯК МЕТОДОЛОГІЧНИЙ ПРИНЦИП У ДОСЛІДЖЕННІ НАУКОВОГО ПЕРЕКЛАДУ

Anthropocentrism is becoming one of the basic methodological principles in Translation Studies. There appeared theories where a translator is assigned a part of an interpreter of the source text semantic code rather than a verbal code converter. This principle is not only a feature of modern science, it also defines subject fields of particular sciences, and science translation is not an exception. Anthropologically, science reflects human intellectual activity being the basis of translation of scientific texts. The anthropocentrism of science translation is stipulated by the fact that this type of translation activity requires from the translator’s personality special intellectual efforts, keeping in mind the specific type of knowledge a science source text contains. This article investigates anthropocentrism as one of the leading methodological principles of modern Translation Studies, in particular its manifestation in science translation. A special research interest is taken in the role of the translator as a broadcaster of scientific knowledge. We have also considered a correlation of the subjective and objective in the translation of science texts, analyzing stereotypic vs creative translation choices. We took a close anthropocentric look at translator’s solutions in rendering texts from various branches of knowledge. In our study, we have analyzed the causes of translator’s mistakes influenced by the human factor, and provided alternative translation solutions, with the purpose of preventing such translation failures in conveying scientific information and improving the general quality of science translations. The main reasons of translation failures have been proved as incorrect folding of the source text, in other words inadequate concept interpretation. Mistakes are also caused by the translator’s inability to unfold the science text in the translated language, which hampers the conveying of coherence as a main typological parameter of a science text. Our research also aims to highlight the importance of further investigation of anthropological and other approaches to the translation of science texts, to trace their role in forming the theoretical basics of science translation. We also find it important to verify the hypothesis of creating a theory of science translation as a type of special translation, in view of insufficient research in the methods and principles of translatological study of science translation.