Target Culture Research Articles

Normalization or creation? A corpus-based study of normalization in the Chinese translation of English children’s literature

Based on the English-Chinese Parallel Corpus of Children’s Literature and the Corpus of Chinese Children’s Literature, this study investigates the feature of normalization in the Chinese translation of English children’s literature. Normalization refers to the adaptation of foreign features in the source text to comply with the cultural and linguistic norms of the target culture. The study analyzes both macro and micro levels of language features in translated children’s literature, comparing them with original Chinese and English texts. The findings reveal a clear trend towards normalization, evidenced by shorter sentences, increased repetition of high-frequency words, a lower frequency of hapax legomena, and a higher textual readability in translated Chinese versions. Furthermore, linguistic structures such as reduplication, modal particles, “把” (BA), and “得” (DE) constructions are found to occur at rates comparable to or significantly higher than those in the original Chinese corpus. This paper argues that normalization is a creative outcome, molded by translators aligning with reader expectations, conscientiously considering the psychological characteristics of child readers, and adapting to social, cultural, and market influences. The study contributes to understanding linguistic features of translated children’s literature, sheds light on translation universals, and underscores the dynamic interplay between normalization and translator creativity.

Developing intercultural competence through pre-translation analysis of Ukrainian tourist guides into English

This paper explores the development of cultural translation skills and, ultimately, students’ intercultural competence during the pre-translation analysis of Ukrainian travel guide texts. Though intercultural competence have been studied by a considerable number of authors it still needs clarification and modification due to new challenges emerging in the contemporary globalizing translation landscape that call for cultural mediators who could ensure effective communication between different ethnic groups and different cultural worldviews. The purpose of the study is to examine how the pre-translation analysis could foster cultural awareness by encouraging trainees to recognize diverse ways of communicating similar situations across cultures. We argue that pre-translation analysis plays a crucial role in shifting students’ perceptual stance, prompting a cognitive transition into a different cultural perspective. This stage broadens their understanding of new communication patterns rather than merely focusing on handling culture-bound units. The approach adopted in the study is student-centered, encouraging learners to engage in discussions, express their opinions on cultural translation strategies, and reflect on their decision-making process. Findings suggest that pre-translation analysis serves as a foundational step in shaping cultural translation skills and, consequently, developing students’ intercultural competence. The proposed instructional strategies aim to create a cognitive shift that facilitates risk-taking. Instead of providing definitive translations, instructors encourage group collaboration, allowing students to explore various possibilities and select the most appropriate solutions. The study highlights the effectiveness of discussion-based learning in empowering students to make translation decisions regarding cultural elements. Developing intercultural competence in translation trainees requires activities such as analyzing differences in the communication styles of promotional texts in the source and target cultures, adapting cultural references for better reception, and balancing the representation of both cultures in translation output. These activities engage students in strategic translation planning while considering the purpose of the travel guide and the expectations of the target audience. Furthermore, they help maintain cultural awareness and sensitivity, equipping trainees with the skills to navigate cultural challenges. In summary, this study underscores the importance of a student-centered approach in modern translation education. It advocates for authentic translation tasks, problem-solving activities, and collaborative learning methods to enhance students' intercultural competence and overall translation skills. A natural progression of this work is to analyze teaching strategies of cultivating trainees’ intercultural competence that could be adopted during the other procedural stages of translation process, that is translation proper and post-translation editing.

Romantika Sastra dan Estetika Terjemahan

This article examines how the aesthetic-semantic approach in literary translation preserves beauty, symbolism, and emotion in Risālah Bahitsatul Bādiyah, a classical Arabic mahfudzat rich in poetic and reflective values. The study focuses on the application of communicative translation and Larson’s translation model to ensure fidelity of message and aesthetic quality in the target language. Using a descriptive-qualitative method with stylistic and semantic analysis, this research demonstrates that effective literary translation must go beyond literal accuracy to reconstruct the writer’s emotional atmosphere and cultural context for modern Indonesian readers. The process of Analyze–Transfer–Restructure plays a crucial role in maintaining the poetic soul of the text while adapting it to the target culture. The findings emphasize that aesthetic goals are dominant in translating this text, as the strength of Risālah Bahitsatul Bādiyah lies in its emotional depth and artistic expression.

Is culture translatable? On the Polish novel Chłopi by Władysław Stanisław Reymont translated into German by Jean Paul d’Ardeschah as a dialogue of Polish and German cultures

The article is an attempt to extend knowledge on the translation- and culture-related factors determining the translatability of Polish culture-bound items into German. It was analysed whether and under what circumstances culture-bound items typical of Polish peasant culture are translatable into German without losing their source connotations and relation to the source culture. The analysis encompassed 96 Polish culture-bound items excerpted from Chłopi by Władysław Stanisław Reymont and their equivalents excerpted from its German translation Die Bauern by Jean Paul d’Ardeschah. It was assumed that the culture-bound items could be successfully rendered into German by employing the strategy of cultural translation, which involves applying specific translation techniques. The study undertook qualitative analysis of techniques employed by the translator in his rendition of culture-bound items. The analysis also concerned the equivalence of connotations established using German elements. It was ascertained that the strategy of cultural translation made it possible to achieve a high level of translatability of Polish peasant culture. Its applicability in the translation process was determined by the translator’s initial aim and the intensity of transfer between the source and the target culture.

Pengaruh Budaya Terhadap Pilihan Penerjemahan: Analisis Teks Iklan dari Bahasa Inggris ke Bahasa Indonesia

This study examines the impact of cultural factors on translation choices in English-language advertising texts. In today’s global marketplace, advertisements function not only as persuasive linguistic tools but also as cultural products that reflect and shape social values. Therefore, translating advertisements requires more than linguistic accuracy—it demands a deep understanding of both source and target cultures. Using a qualitative approach and drawing on theories such as dynamic equivalence and cultural translation, this research analyzes English advertisements and their translations across diverse cultural contexts. The analysis focuses on cultural dimensions such as communication context (high vs. low), individualism vs. collectivism, and power distance. The Findings indicate that cultural aspects such as phrases, humor, and a local symbol often can not be translated directly. Therefore, strategies like adaptation, localization, and cultural substitutions are used to keep the relevance and appeal of the message. This research affirms that the translator's function as a cultural mediator who must consider both the meaning and the sensitivity of the target audience. This Study also emphasizes the importance of cultural competence and collaboration with cultural consultants or native speakers to guarantee the accuracy and cross-cultural respect. In conclusion, a balanced translation approach between faithfulness to the source message and cultural acceptance is highly important in the context of global communication.

CAR-NK THERAPY: NK CELL EXPANSION EXPOSED TO HEK 293T CELL LINE

Abstract While creating chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) NK cells, it is necessary to conduct a stage of these immune cell enrichment. Feeder cells are most often used in methods for the effective NK cell expansion. The human embryonic kidney cell line containing the SV40 T-antigen (HEK 293T) is most often used for research purposes in various areas, since it is easily subjected to genetic modifications. This property indicates the potential for modifying HEK 293T cells to express tumor antigens or proinflammatory cytokines, which can be used to activate and enrich NK cells. In this work, we assessed the effect of unmodified HEK 293T cell culture on cytotoxicity and expression of NK and NKT cell activation markers in long-term cultivation in the presence of non-irradiated autologous feeder cells. The study used peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from healthy volunteer donors. Proliferation was stimulated using antibodies against CD3 and CD28 receptors or mitomycin C-treated HEK 293T cell culture. Cell proliferation was assessed by direct cell counting added with trypan blue dye. Cytotoxicity was determined on HG3, T47D-HER2+, K562 target cultures. Flow cytometry with labeled monoclonal antibodies was used to analyze the expression of surface receptors. Four different methods for lymphocyte activation using HEK 293T were proposed. We found that when using the HEK 293T cell line, an increased percentage of CD3-CD56+ cells in the population was observed in all activation modes, as well as increased expression of NK cell activation markers - NKp30 and NKG2D, in addition, the proportion of CD16+ and CD3+CD4+ lymphocytes increased relative to activation with monoclonal antibodies alone. Of the proposed options for coincubation of lymphocytes with HEK 293T feeder cells, the most effective NK cells expansion was described for the protocol involving the use of the HEK 293T cell line once before the onset of incubation without proliferation additionally stimulated with monoclonal antibodies. This approach resulted in higher proportion of CD56+ lymphocytes reaching to 60% as early as on day 4 of cultivation. Thus, HEK 293T cells stimulate NK cells division, therefore, they can be used as feeder cells in a CAR NK cell product development.

Kritikk og barnelitteratur

Theme: Children's Literature Reviews - How, Where and Who? Ill. Jenny Nyström from Barnkammarens bok, 1882. Critique and Children's Books: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study of Consecration Markers It is a common practice that books of fiction for adults contain excerpts of reviews and other quality markers on their covers. This article investigates to what extent so-called consecration markers are used on the covers of children’s picturebooks (3–6 years) in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. We study where the consecration markers are positioned – on the front cover or on the back. We also examine whether there are any differences between the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish literary systems regarding the use of consecration markers. In addition, we investigate who the agents behind them are. Are they critics, “ordinary readers” or other consecrators? Using a corpus of some 5,200 book covers (front and back), collected in libraries in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, as a point of departure, we conduct both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Our results show that the use of consecration markers is much more widespread in Sweden than in Norway and Denmark. For the Norwegian and Swedish corpora, our results demonstrate that the typical consecration marker is an excerpt from a critic, positioned on the back cover of the picturebook. For the Danish corpus, the mention of prizes is seen as the most important consecration marker. Our study also shows that for translated books, the critic is in most cases from the target culture.

What’s a cottage to you?

In this essay, I examine my own translation for the stage of Northern Irish Stacey Gregg’s Override (2013), produced by Cia Ludens, under the title Controle Manual, in 2023. Here I retrospectively analyse my own translation choices, with a focus on cultural, linguistic, and discursive aspects on the translation with a view towards a stage reading. I also explore how the play may have been received in São Paulo, Brazil, reflecting on the stage reading’s post-show debate. My main objective is thus to consider the importance of a dramaturgical consciousness in theatre translation, in which the theatre translator, as an expert in both source and target cultures, works as a creative agent in the theatre scene. The translator as dramaturge (Pavis 1992) works as an important interlocutor not only between two different theatre systems and traditions, but also as a sensitive interpreter of some of the pressing issues of her own time.

EMOTIVE SPEECH ACTS IN CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

The aim of the study is to determine the role of emotive speech acts in cross-cultural language learning environments, revealing the complex interplay between universal emotional markers and culturally specific expression patterns. In the course of the research, data analysis methods were applied (acoustic analysis, facial expression analysis using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), lexical analysis, correlational and regression analysis). Through comprehensive analysis of acoustic features, facial expressions, and lexical patterns, the research demonstrates that emotional expression follows dual patterns: universal elements remain consistent across languages while others undergo significant cultural adaptation. Results indicate that language learners develop an “emotional interlanguage” that synthesizes native expression strategies with target language norms. Spanish learners exhibited greater facial expressiveness when expressing happiness, suggesting adoption of the target culture’s more overt emotional display rules. Anger was more explicitly verbalized across all language learning groups, indicating that different emotions utilize distinct channels of expression. Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering revealed discrete emotional expression profiles across language groups, while multiple regression models identified predictive relationships between linguistic proficiency, cultural exposure, and emotional adaptation. Our findings support a nuanced theoretical model that integrates universalist and relativist perspectives on emotional expression, suggesting that language learners navigate a dynamic space between these poles. The research confirms that certain aspects of emotional expression — such as increased vocal intensity for anger and decreased speech rate for sadness — remain relatively consistent across language groups, supporting the universality hypothesis. However, other aspects — particularly facial expressiveness for happiness and lexical choices for emotional states — show significant adaptation to target language norms, supporting the cultural relativity perspective. Our data reveals that language learners develop what might be termed an “emotional interlanguage” — a dynamic system of emotional expression that incorporates elements from both their native emotional repertoire and the target language’s cultural norms. This emotional interlanguage evolves with increased language proficiency and cultural exposure, but the adaptation process varies across different channels of emotional expression and across different emotions. The finding that cultural familiarity mediates the relationship between language proficiency and emotional expressiveness suggests that emotional adaptation in language learning is not simply a function of linguistic knowledge, but requires deeper cultural learning and engagement.

PARTICULARITIES OF REPRODUCING EMOTION CONCEPTS OF THE UKRAINIAN “CULT OF SUFFERING” IN THE GERMAN LINGUO-CULTURE: A CORPUS-BASED STUDY

The proposed article is devoted to the development of the methodology that can serve to identify cases of incorrect rendering of EC names in Ukrainian-German and German-Ukrainian translations of literary works. The aim of the study is to test this methodology on the example of “sad and wistful” ECs of the Ukrainian “cult of suffering” – сум, смуток, туга, журба, жаль, скорбота, печаль, зажура, хандра, and бентега. The sample of linguistic material consists of 1384 parallel contexts selected on the basis of the data from the Ukrainian-German parallel corpus, which is a part of the ParaRook parallel corpus group. The tested research methodology is based on the procedures of a number of methods of linguistics and translation studies: definitional analysis, contextual analysis, comparative analysis, translation analysis, statistical analysis The analysis of the sample material and the comparison of dictionary definitions of Ukrainian lexemes сум, смуток, туга, журба, жаль, скорбота, печаль, зажура and their German equivalents Trauer, Traurigkeit, Wehmut, Kummer, Heimweh, Sehnsucht, Weltschmerz, Melancholie, Betrübnis, Jammer revealed that the explanatory dictionaries do not provide full information about (a) the linguo-cultural specificity of the studied lexemes (e.g., Sehnsucht, Weltschmerz, Heimweh), (b) arousal and valence of the emotion they denote (e.g., Wehmut, Melancholie), (c) their relevant meaning, (d) stylistic labelling, as well as (e) frequency at the current stage of language development (only corpus data helped to determine the rare usage of the German lexeme Betrübnis). This means that the use of dictionary material cannot fully ensure the identification of the best translation equivalents in the target language. The comparison of definitions did not provide, in particular, a proper idea of the semantic shades that distinguish very similar words – Trauer, Traurigkeit, Kummer, and Jammer. The fact that in German-Ukrainian and Ukrainian- German translations, the lexeme Trauer is used mainly to convey the semantics of sadness, melancholy or sorrow remains unexplained, but according to the dictionary entry, this lexeme contains mainly semantic shades of mourning. This means that using only dictionary data does not ensure objectivity in determining the best translation equivalents in the TL. This is the reason for the semantic loss of German/Ukrainian ECs during their transfer to the Ukrainian/German-speaking society. It is established that the most frequent cause of semantic losses is the failure of translators to take into account the deeper meanings of the EC that create a peculiar emotional atmosphere of the SL text. At the same time, translators often focus on finding interlingual equivalents, forgetting that interlingual equivalence does not always ensure intercultural equivalence. The fact that the attempt to find intercultural equivalents requires considerable intellectual effort means that translators deliberately simplify their task by only partially conveying the emotional palette of the source text, thus depriving the Ukrainian/German recipient of the slightest idea of the specifics of the emotional world of Germans/Ukrainians. The differentiation of those ECs of the source culture whose name definitions are very close to each other is a particular problem for the recipients of the target culture. The distinction between such words is based on the frequency indices of the occurrent forms of the query words Trauer, Traurigkeit, Kummer and Jammer that made it possible to determine the dominant meanings of the close German ECs trauer, traurigkeit, kummer, and jammer, and helped to establish differences in the conceptual structures of the latter. The developed research methodology made it possible to determine the level of equivalence of those German ECs that are most often used to reproduce Ukrainian “sad and wistful” ECs, and vice versa. The criteria for the proposed equivalence – close, sufficiently close and admissible equivalences – are based on the premise that there is no complete equivalence among ECs, even in closely related cultures.

Conceptual Representation of Culture in EFL Textbook Images: A Multimodal Analysis

This study investigated the types of culture presented in EFL school textbooks in Indonesia. Qualitative content analysis and the Kress & van Leeuwen’s conceptual representation framework were employed to analyze the data in two textbooks widely used at the Junior high school level. The findings show that both textbooks portray a rather disproportionate representation of culture. Target culture is represented more dominantly in the global textbook, while the locally produced textbook emphasizes the presentation of source culture. This finding suggests that the former textbook, despite some localization, is intended to appeal to a wider global audience, while the latter implies an attempt to preserve local identity and localize the context of English language learning. Such imbalanced representation has the potential to impede students’ acquisition of intercultural communicative competence. Therefore, there is an urgency for material developers to provide students with balanced cultural content, as well as an active role from the teacher to appropriately select learning materials to supplement the drawbacks of the textbooks.

Cultural Stereotypes in Foreign Language Textbooks: A Systematic Review of Visual Representation

This systematic review examines cultural stereotypes depicted in visual content of foreign language textbooks, considering their impact on intercultural education. The research addresses the critical need for understanding how stereotypes in textbooks influence students' cultural perceptions and biases. Using a PRISMA-guided review of 24 articles, the study analyzes how textbooks visually represent different cultures and gender roles. Findings reveal that cultural stereotypes are frequently reinforced, with visuals heavily dominated by Anglo-Saxon target cultures, while local cultures are often exoticized and depicted in static, traditional images. Additionally, gender stereotypes remain pervasive, portraying women in passive roles and men in dominant positions. These stereotypical portrayals potentially hinder intercultural understanding and reinforce existing biases among learners. However, the review identifies examples where textbooks successfully promote cultural inclusivity and diversity through balanced representations. This study implies that textbook developers should intentionally incorporate inclusive, dynamic, and balanced visuals to facilitate critical intercultural learning. The paper concludes with recommendations for addressing existing gaps, including the need to explore teachers' and students' perceptions, internal cultural diversity, and visual content in digital textbooks.

A proposed Strategy for Translating Culture-Specific Taboos in Ali Al-Muqri’s the “Handsome Jew”

Translating culturally-bound terms poses a significant challenge for professional translators, requiring a deep understanding of both linguistic and cultural elements, including linguistic taboos. This study analyzes the translation of linguistic taboos in the Yemeni novel The Handsome Jew by Ali Al-Muqri, identifying the strategies used to render taboo expressions and examining differences between Arabic and Western cultural taboos. It also proposes methods to improve their translation. A sample of eight taboo expressions was selected and analyzed in their English translations using Newmark’s (1988) translation strategies. Given the profound spiritual connection between Islam and its followers, the study highlights the vital role of religion and culture in translating taboo words. Translators must adapt texts to align with the target culture while respecting both languages' cultural nuances. The results show that the most frequent strategy was "taboo-for-taboo" substitution, followed by euphemism, omission, and replacement. Five types of linguistic taboos were identified: swearing, insults, sarcasm, derogatory tone, and slang. This research offers practical insights for translators, especially beginners, in handling taboo terms across texts.

Immersive Contexts and Oral Fluency Development Among ESL Learners in the United States: An Action Research Study

This action research study employed a triangulated methodology, incorporating pre- and postquestionnaires, to explore the oral fluency development of six advanced ESL students. The study compared the impact of immersion in a U.S. target language environment with learning in a home culture context. Findings indicated that students who maximized their engagement with native English speakers within the target culture demonstrated significantly greater advancements in oral fluency compared to their peers who opted not to fully utilize the linguistic and cultural environment. This study emphasizes the transformative potential of immersive language learning experiences and contributes to the understanding of best practices in second language acquisition (SLA).

Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of Intercultural Aspects of ELT in Moroccan EFL Discourse

The teaching of intercultural aspects of English Language Education (ELT) has gained a scholarly attention in intercultural language education studies. This study seeks to explore Moroccan teachers and students’ perceptions towards the teaching of the target culture(s) in Moroccan EFL classrooms, which are essentially marked by diversity in terms of cultures, languages and identities. The study starts from the hypothesis that there is an under-representation of the target language culture and its deep features in Moroccan EFL curricular and the focus is likely to be on the incorporation of surface elements of other foreign cultures. It also assumes that both students and teachers encounter many challenges in target culture teaching and learning due to students’ low linguistic level in English and due to the types of cultural contents included in textbooks. Based on data collected through quantitative and qualitative research, the findings reveal that there is a common preference among teachers and students toward the Anglophone cultures; however, given the outdated contents of textbooks and the ministry’s official guidelines emphasis on students’ language proficiency, there is a need for the integration of recent cultural capitals of the target culture in textbooks and teaching practices. The research recommends equal consideration of world cultures and realities in Moroccan EFL textbooks and discourses as well as further critical research engagement with EFL discourse that holds accountable for social justice and equity in language education.

Application of Eco-Translatology in Game Subtitle Localization: A Case Study of "Black Myth: Wukong"

This paper examines the phenomenon-level game "Black Myth: Wukong" using the eco-translatology framework of "three-dimensional transformation" to systematically investigate the cultural communication strategies in the process of game subtitle localization. Through close reading and comparative analysis, the study focuses on how translators balance the preservation of Chinese cultural essence with the acceptability in the target culture. Findings show that in the cultural dimension, imagery reconstruction and semantic compensation strategies allow traditional cultural symbols like Nuo opera and land temples to be cross-culturally reborn; in the communicative dimension, discourse reconstruction and intertextual mapping effectively convey political metaphors and Eastern philosophical wisdom embedded in character relationships; in the linguistic dimension, rhetorical devices such as alliteration and dashes are creatively employed to retain poetic qualities of Chinese while conforming to English expression norms. This research aims to offer an innovative path for cultural export in the digital age and provide useful insights into the globalization of the gaming industry.

The Analysis of Cultural Content The Eight Grade Junior High School Students English Textbook

The aims of this research are to analyze the culture categories and get the most dominant category presented in the textbook. Qualitative research design, specifically content analysis of textbooks is employed in the study. This research use data analysis according to Miles and Huberman (1992) explain that analysis involves three concurrent activities: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The primary data source for this study is the researcher employs established categories to analyze the data, including food and drink, locations, art, ceremonies, social behavior, beliefs and values, history, and individuals. These categories were developed by Adoskou, Moran, Dweik, and Al-Sayed in 1990, 2001, and 2015. The textual and visual data are examined based on the cultural categories of source culture, target culture, and worldwide culture. These categories were developed by Cortazzi & Jin in 2022.

Fetishism, metaphor, and queer translation

Abstract This article looks at Ta-wei Chi’s short stories “Yinwei wo zhuang” 因為我壯 (“Because I am strong,” 1995) and “Xiang zao” 香皂 (“Soap,” 1996) and their English translations by Fran Martin, “I’m Not Stupid” and “The Scent of HIV” in a 1998 issue of AntiThesis: A Transdisciplinary Postgraduate Journal by the University of Melbourne. These texts provide a unique example of Chi’s challenging of the presuppositions about what cultures hold unacceptable or unspeakable within the context of cultural prejudices or taboos in 1990s Taiwan. Through a close reading of the two short stories in both Chinese and in their English translations, this article demonstrates that the translations indicate a complex, hybrid process that engages questions of contesting heteronormative, hegemonic values of the target culture while at the same time negotiating the challenges of the source texts within the larger context of translating queer literary texts from Chinese into English. Drawing on Marc Démont’s three modes of translating queer texts, I argue that Martin’s translations index an amalgam of minoritising translation and queering translation. This article proposes that a queer critique of an existing translation helps expose the hidden (re)workings of cultural, linguistic and sexual hegemony in a queer literary text that can be potentially explored or exploited. Furthermore, by shedding light on the production of readings, this article argues that queer translation draws attention to multiple potentials to undo the binaries that have authenticated and naturalised our language, knowledge and ways of thinking about sex and sexuality.

Russia in translation: Nordic perspectives

ABSTRACT The five articles included in the special section explore the translation of Russian fiction and nonfiction about Russia/the Soviet Union in three Nordic countries: Finland, Sweden and Iceland. The interest in this topic arises from the observation that there has been a tendency to turn to translations of Russian literature to find answers to questions about what it means to be Russian and about Russian society and way of thinking. The articles utilize translation paratexts, such as reviews and publishers' descriptions, to explore how the translations have been introduced to the readers in the target cultures, what kinds of images were presented to them and how the translations were received. The comparative cultural framework of the Nordic countries stems, first, from the idea that the Nordic nations form a group of culturally, socially and politically like-minded countries, and second, from their geographical proximity to Russia. Bringing together research on the reception of translations and the translation policies in these small linguistic areas enables us to compare case studies and thus helps to reveal blind spots in perceptions and images of Russian literature, as well as what has been translated from Russian, e.g., in Sweden, but not in Finland or Iceland.

Issues of Preserving Artistic Imagery and Tone in Translation

Literary translation is not merely the process of rendering words from one language to another, but a complex creative act aimed at preserving the author's artistic intent, imagery, stylistic devices, and tone. In this context, not only the external form of the text (lexical and grammatical units) is important, but also its inner substance – aesthetic impact, emotional depth, semantic richness, and stylistic nuance. This is particularly true in the translation of poetic or dramatic works, where imagery and tone are key literary components requiring the translator’s deep philological knowledge and creative skill. This article examines the challenges and strategies involved in preserving artistic imagery and the original tone in literary translation, especially when translating into the Uzbek language. It analyzes how to convey the semantic load of images, maintain stylistic devices such as metaphor, epithet, and personification, and retain the musicality of the text – including rhythm, intonation, pause, and other phonetic elements – within the stylistic system of the target language. It concludes that preserving imagery and tone in translation is not merely a linguistic issue but also a matter of intercultural understanding and poetic aesthetics. The findings demonstrate the translator’s role as both an interpreter and a re–creator of the literary world in the target culture.