LITERARY TRANSLATION OF THE TEXT AS AN OBJECT OF STUDY IN MODERN LINGUISTICS Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

PHILOLOGY

(specialty: 5.9.8)

Original article

doi: 10.18522/2070-1403-2022-93-4-39-44

LITERARY TRANSLATION OF THE TEXT AS AN OBJECT OF STUDY IN MODERN LINGUISTICS

© Liudmila M. Zholos1, Elena S. Kosareva2

1Southern federal university, Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation; 2Rostov law institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation 1zholos@sfedu.ru 2redaction-el@mail.ru

Abstract. Translation of a literary text from one language to another is a special kind of translation. This process involves not only the transfer of the content of the source text in the target language, but also creative transformation, comprehension of the original text, based on the capabilities of the target language, its literary norms. A literary text is highly informative, so when translating, one has to take into account such features as formal organization, the language of the text, and the time of writing. One of the difficulties in translation is the transfer of the writer's idiostyle, which is associated with the stylistic problems of translating a literary text. Since the translation of this type of text is an interpre -tation of the original meaning, stylistic shifts are inevitable.

Key words: translation, literary text, transformation, interpretation, language, original text. For citation: Liudmila M. Zholos, Elena S. Kosareva Literary translation of the text as an object of study in modern linguistics. The Humanities and Social Sciences. 2022. Vol. 93. No 4. P. 39-44. doi: 10.18522/2070-1403-2022-93-4-39-44

ФИЛОЛОГИЯ

(шифр научной специальности: 5.9.8)

Научная статья УДК 81

doi: 10.18522/2070-1403-2022-93-4-46-45

Художественный перевод текста как объект исследования в современной лингвистике

© Людмила Михайловна Жолос1, Елена Станиславовна Косарева2

Южный федеральный университет, г. Ростов-на-Дону, Россия; 2Ростовский юридический институт Министерства внутренних дел Российской Федерации, г. Ростов-на-Дону, Россия 1zholos@sfedu.ru 2redaction-el@mail.ru

Аннотация. Перевод художественного текста с одного языка на другой - особый вид перевода. Данный процесс предполагает не только передачу на переводящем языке содержания исходного текста, но и творческую трансформацию, осмысление оригинального текста, исходя из возможностей переводящего языка, его литературных норм. Художественный текст обладает высокой информативностью, поэтому при переводе приходится учитывать такие особенности как формальная организация, язык текста и время написания. Одна из трудностей при переводе заключается в передачи идиостиля писателя, что связано со стилистическим проблемам перевода художественного текста. Поскольку перевод данного типа текста представляет собой интерпретацию оригинального смысла, то стилистические сдвиги оказываются неизбежными.

Ключевые слова: перевод, художественный текст, трансформация, интерпретация, язык, исходный текст. Для цитирования: Жолос Л.М., Косарева Е.С. Художественный перевод текста как объект исследования в современной лингвистике // Гуманитарные и социальные науки. 2022. Т. 93. № 4. С. 39-44. doi: 10.18522/20701403-2022-93-4-39-44

Introduction

Translation studies as an independent philological discipline appeared relatively recently - it was only in the middle of the XX century that the systematic study of translation activities by linguists began. The emergence of translation studies was promoted by the scientific activity of lin-

guists, literary critics and practical translators, including such scientists as V.N. Komissarov, L.L. Nelyubin, A.V. Fedorov, G.T. Khukhuni, A.D. Schweitzer, G. Gachechiladze. At the moment, translation studies have its own history, theoretical basis and a number of methods.

Translation studies deal with the theoretical understanding of translation activity and its improvement. Translation, in turn, should be understood as the process of transformation of a speech work from one language to another. A.V. Fedorov defines translation as a process "taking place in the form of a mental act and consisting in the fact that a speech work (text or oral utterance) that originated in one source language (a foreign language) is recreated in another - translating - language". The result of this process, namely a new speech work, is also considered as translation [5].

Translation is a complex and diverse type of human activity, and it should be understood more deeply than just the transformation of a text from one language to another. Many scholars point out that factors such as the epoch, culture and traditions of the people, the personality of the author and translator have a major influence on translation. "Culturologists, ethnographers, psychologists, historians, literary critics are interested in translation, and different aspects of translation activities can be studied within the framework of the relevant sciences. At the same time, in the science of translation - translation studies - cultural, cognitive, psychological, literary and other aspects can be distinguished" [3].

The significance of extralinguistic factors is also noted by the translator A. D. Schweitzer. He defines translation as: "A unidirectional and two-phase process of interlanguage and intercultural communication, in which, on the basis of a purposeful ("translation") after analyzing the primary text, a secondary text (metatext) is created, replacing the primary one in another linguistic and cultural environment; a process characterized by an attitude to the transmission of the com -municative effect of the primary text, partially modified by differences between two languages, between two cultures and two communicative situations" [6]. Thus, it is obvious that the study of speech cannot take place in isolation from the person creating the primary text. Language is inseparable from a person, who in turn is an integral part of a certain culture, society, has its own unique thought process and perception of reality. In the process of creating speech, the speaker puts his thought into a certain form, that is, into a text. The form of the text, in turn, will depend on extralinguistic factors, on the one hand, and on the other - on the speech norms existing in this speech community. Due to the fact that at the moment of translation transformation, the translator realizes someone else's thought, and not his own, then the process of creating a text in the translation language itself will be of an independent nature. And here we should talk about the concept of adequacy and equivalence of translation.

Discussion

It is obvious that the absolute identity of the translation to the original is unattainable, but this does not mean that intercultural communication will be impossible. Losses at the level of the form and content of the text are inevitable. Equivalence is the relationship between the content of the original and the translation in the absence of identity. As V.N. Komissarov notes, for the effectiveness of interlanguage communication, achieving maximum equivalence is not always mandatory, and sometimes even undesirable.

Some scientists express the idea of the fundamental impossibility of translation. Thus, the German philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt argued that language is determined by thinking, which in turn is the embodiment of the "spirit of the people". When translating, it is impossible to simultaneously preserve the peculiarities of the language and culture of both the original and the translation, therefore, it is impossible to achieve equivalence in translation. E. Sepir and B. Wharf spoke about linguistic relativity, who believed that different languages form different thinking, that is, different peoples perceive the world in different ways.

Many scientists note only partial untranslatability. For example, A.B. Fedorov considers di-alectisms and lexemes of social jargon to be untranslatable. V. Koller also spoke about relative translatability. The scientist argued that in the process of communication, information is transmitted only partially, and therefore, in any communication, the loss of information is irreversible. As a

rule, full translatability is hindered by such factors as language limitations (differences in the linguistic picture of the world, lacunae, dialectisms, archaisms, barbarisms, etc.); extralinguistic limitations due to cross-cultural differences. There is also the concept of all-translatability, according to any language is universal in nature. In turn, translation is recognized as theoretically possible, since all languages have a common primary basis, a kind of proto-language (it is also a universal language), the principles of which are reflected in each of the existing modern languages.

The issue of translatability is closely related to the typology of translated texts. According to the genre and stylistic coloring of the translated material, we can talk about the existence of scientific and technical, socio-political, military, legal, everyday and literary translations. Each type of text has its own characteristics and requires different translation solutions. This article deals with the translation of a literary text. The problems of translation of texts of works of fiction are studied by such linguistic science as the theory of literary translation.

Translation of a literary text from one language to another is a special kind of translation. This process involves not only the transfer of the content of the source text in the translating language, but also creative transformation, comprehension of the original text, based on the capabilities of the translating language, its literary norms. The literary text has a high informative value, therefore, when translating, it is necessary to take into account such features as the formal organization, the language of the text and the time of writing. It is impossible to completely preserve the form of the source text, so the translator must be able to "find the intersection point between the original and the translation" [7]. The translator of a literary text strives for accuracy in translation, but it is impossible to fully reproduce the original work in another language. V.N. Komissarov points out that each sentence should be considered as part of the whole and convey the content, but one should also try to recreate the artistic image, the general mood, the characteristics of the characters, etc. "The choice of a single word, syntactic structure, and other elements is also important" [3]. When translating a literary text, it is necessary to take into account the pragmatic task of translation, namely, the aesthetic effect on the reader, which the author achieves by using various artistic techniques that are more suitable for creating the necessary emotional effect [4]. If the translator was able to achieve the same emotional impact on the reader as the author of the original work, then we can talk about an adequate reproduction of the communicative effect of the original.

Literary translation is always a competition. Words in one language form a certain chain of associations that may not coincide in the translating language. Accordingly, different translators have different associations in connection with a particular word or phrase, each interprets the information contained in the language units in their own way. There cannot be one perfect translation -each variant is individual and interesting in its own way. "In essence, literary translation is a kind of interpretation, interpretation of the source text... An artistic text is untranslatable from the point of view of unambiguous correspondence: its linguistic elements cannot be objectively replaced by similar elements of the translating language due to the structural and functional relativity of the linguistic sign, since sign relations do not coincide in different languages, which means that the artistic functions of these relations most often do not coincide" [2].

And yet the issue of the adequacy and correctness of this or that interpretation cannot be considered closed. Translators have always been concerned about how to convey all the charm and originality of the original. There are several approaches to the translation of a literary text. Y.P. Solodub considers 2 approaches: the concept of adequate translation (the translator tries to preserve the form and content of the original text in full as far as possible) and the concept of inadequate free translation. "In addition to a deep understanding of the ideological and thematic orientation of the original, the translator must find adequate verbal means to convey the figurative system of the translated work and the specifics of the author's language" [4], that is, when translating, one should remember both the author of the source text and, at the same time, the culture of the language, to which the transfer is being made.

When translating literary texts, the translator should pay special attention to their style. Various stylistic techniques, figures of speech and tropes play a significant role in translation, since they

make the text expressive, often allow you to reveal the author's intention, and also illustrate the writer's talent. Translation transformations are interlanguage transformations, changing elements of the origin text, paraphrasing in order to achieve a translation equivalent. There are several approaches to the classification of transformations. L.K. Latyshev offers classification by language levels (phonetic, morphological, syntactic and lexical levels). These translation transformations are rarely found separately (for example, phonetic transformation cannot but affect other levels of the language), combinations of transformations of different types can be observed more often. So the scientist identifies the following transformations:

• Categorical-morphological transformations - transformations at the level of parts of speech (for example, a noun in a SL (source language) is replaced by an adjective in the TL (target language);

• Syntactic - the syntactic construction of one type is replaced by another (for example, the transformation of the subject into an addition);

• Instance transformations, in which not only the linguistic form of the utterance is replaced, but also a set of signs by which the situation is depicted;

• Specific transformations, such as antonymic translation, converse transformation (description of the same relationship between subject and object, but from different sides), idiomatization and deidiomatization (translation of an idiom using direct meanings of words and phrases), explication (a more specific form of expression is embedded in the content compared to the original) and implication.

L.S. Barkhudarov offers the following classification, in which the linguist identifies four types of transformations:

• Permutations - changing the order of placement of components of a complex sentence, as well as changing the place of words and phrases. The use of this type of transformation is associated with differences in the structure of sentences in a SL and in the TL.

• Substitutions (lexical and grammatical) are a method of translating lexical units of the original language, in which translation units are used, the values of which do not coincide with the values of the original units, but can be derived from them using logical transformations.

• Omissions - the translator skips some words to avoid violating the norms of the translating language.

• Additions - the translator adds a word in order not to break the norms of the TL.

Another linguist, Y.I. Retsker, distinguishes two types of transformations: grammatical transformations, which involve the replacement of parts of speech or sentence members, and lexical transformations (concretization, generalization, antonymic translation, compensation, semantic development and holistic transformation).

V.N. Komissarov identifies the following types of transformations in his concept: lexical, grammatical and complex. In lexical transformations, the scientist distinguishes transliteration, translation transcription, calque, some lexical and semantic substitutions (modulation, concretization and generalization). Grammatical transformations include literal translation (or syntactic assimilation), grammatical substitutions (substitutions of sentence members, word forms, parts of speech) and sentence division. Complex transformations are a synthesis of the two previous ones. This includes explication (descriptive translation), antonymic translation and compensation.

Among foreign scientists, French linguists Jean Darbelne and Jean-Paul Vinet should be noted. They do not talk about the typology of translation transformations, but offer two techniques used in translation:

• Direct translation techniques (literal translation, calque and borrowing);

• Indirect translation techniques (equivalence (transfer of the meaning of warning inscriptions, proverbs, aphorisms in other words); transposition (replacement of one part of speech with another); adaptation (change of details of the information reported); modulation (change of the existing point of view)).

It is worth mentioning about non-equivalent lexis, about lexical and phraseological units that do not have translation correspondences in the translating language. This usually includes re-

alities, partly terms, interjections, onomatopoeia, abbreviations, addresses and deviations from the literary norm; proper names and phraseological units come into contact with realities. The concept of realities is closely related to the understanding of national color and cultural characteristics, which is why so much attention is paid to their translation. Realities are an element of background knowledge, the absence of which can lead to literalism in translation. Of course, the concept of translation of realities is conditional, since, as a rule, they are untranslatable, but, at the same time, they can be explained in context, for example, by a descriptive method. When translating realities, it is important to convey to the reader the national mind of the source text. There are several translation techniques for this:

• Borrowing is the most successful way to convey the local flavor of reality, because as a result of this process, a certain element of a foreign language appears and fixes in the TL;

• Transcription is a formal recreation of the original lexeme using the phonemes of the TL, in other words, a phonetic imitation of the original word.

• Transliteration is a formal recreation of the original language unit using the alphabet of the language, that is, a literal imitation of the lexeme form.

• Introduction of neologism is a creation of a new word or phrase.

• Calque is a literal translation. In this case, morphemes or phrases are translated by identical elements of the TL.

• A semi-calque is a partial borrowing, in which one of the elements of reality is translated by transcription/transliteration, and the other by calcification.

• Adaptation is the selection of a functional equivalent that causes the reader of the translation to have the same associations as the reader of the source text.

• Realia replacement is replacing the realia of the source text with the realia of the TL. Conclusions

Thus, every translation of the same text has the right to exist. Translators strive to convey the content and idea of the work as closely as possible to the original text, while not distorting the primary text and not allowing a large number of their own thoughts, while using variations in linguistic and figurative means. To achieve an equivalent and adequate translation, they use certain translation transformations. The correct transfer of the meaning of one language to another requires from the translator not only a deep knowledge of the systems of both languages, their development and state in certain epochs, but also the presence of certain background knowledge.

References

1. Zholos L.M. Features of the functioning of a play on words in a literary text // The Humanities and social sciences. 2017. No. 4. http://www.hses-online.ru

2. Kazakova T.A. Literary translation: textbook. SPb., 2002.

3. Komissarov V.N. General theory of translation. Problems of translation studies in the coverage of foreign scientists. Tutorial. M., 1999.

4. Solodub Yu.P. Theory and practice of literary translation. M., 2005.

5. Fedorov A. V. Fundamentals of the general theory of translation (linguistic problems). M., 2002.

6. Schweitzer A. D. Translation theory. Status, problems, aspects. M., 1988.

7. EtkindE. G. Poetry and translation. M., 1983.

Список источников

1. Жолос Л.М. Особенности функционирования игры слов в художественном тексте // Гуманитарные и социальные науки. 2017. № 4. http://www.hses-online.ru

2. Казакова Т.А. Художественный перевод: учебное пособие. СПб., 2002.

3. Комиссаров В. Н. Общая теория перевода. Проблемы переводоведения в освещении зарубежных ученых. Учебное пособие. М., 1999.

4. СолодубЮ.П. Теория и практика художественного перевода. М., 2005.

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7. Эткинд Е. Г. Поэзия и перевод. М., 1983.

Статья поступила в редакцию 24.06.2022; одобрена после рецензирования 05.07.2022; принята к публикации 15.07.2022.

The article was submitted 24.06.2022; approved after reviewing 05.07.2022; accepted for publication 15.07.2022.