Курсова робота “Lexical-semantic transformations in the English-Ukrainian translation”

CONTENT

 

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF UKRAINIAN  TRANSLATION

1.1 The concept of translation transformations and their classification

1.2 The concept of adequacy and equivalence in the process of translating a novel

CHAPTER 2. ANALYSIS OF LEXICAL-SEMANTIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN DONNA TARTT’S NOVEL «THE GOLDFINCH»

2.1 Features of Donna Tartt’s ideostyle in the novel «The goldfinch»

2.2 Application of lexical-semantic transformations in the Ukrainian translation of the novel

CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Translating literary works can be considered an art, as it involves the creative activity of the translator, resulting in the creation of an entirely new artistic piece. This rather complex process requires a high level of professional expertise and the presence of artistic taste in the translator. Knowledge of both English and Ukrainian languages alone is not a guarantee of an adequate translation of a literary work. The specificity of translating literary works is determined by the importance of adequately conveying not only the content of the text but also its artistic and aesthetic function.

A literary work is, essentially, the creation of a new artistic world, with a detailed description achieved through the combination of various stylistic devices and the writer’s individual style. Tropes and figures are employed at the lexical, phonetic, and syntactic levels of language and form the basis of the artistic and aesthetic function of the text, as they create its imagery and vividly convey the emotions, characters, and moods of the protagonists. Furthermore, stylistic devices are rich in implicit meanings and cultural symbols, which the translator must decode correctly, analyzing the artistic context and the author’s intentions.

Looking at the history of the development of Ukrainian translation studies, it can be noted that Ukrainian translation has largely served not only the function of conveying information but has also contributed to the process of creating the Ukrainian nation. Through translation, Ukrainian vocabulary developed, and the Ukrainian literary language was formed. Today, translations into Ukrainian deserve high recognition and captivate Ukrainian readers, as a large number of cultural heritage works from various countries and contemporary literature are available for reading in their native language.

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the increasing popularity of Ukrainian artistic translation of contemporary works and the need for a comprehensive examination of translation strategies for literary works, taking into account their stylistic features and effective use of translation transformations to achieve translation adequacy.

Quality Ukrainian translation of literary texts is possible only by finding a balance between reproducing the text in the target language while preserving the content and form without losing the artistic and aesthetic aspect of the source text. The research is also relevant due to the need to analyze the individual artistic style and literary language of Donna Tartt, particularly the use of expressive literary devices in the novel «The Goldfinch,» which pose challenges during literary translation since they are units of a different culture.

The research objective is to analyze the application of lexical-semantic transformations in the translation of Donna Tartt’s novel «The Goldfinch» into Ukrainian.

Achieving the research objective involves addressing the following tasks:

1) examine the concept of translation transformations and their classification;

2) consider the question of translation adequacy;

3) identify the features of Donna Tartt’s writing style in the novel;

4) analyze the lexical-semantic transformations in the Ukrainian translation of the novel.

The object of the research is Donna Tartt’s novel «The Goldfinch.»

The subject of the research is the translation transformations used in translating the novel into Ukrainian.

Research methods include theoretical analysis and synthesis, classification and typological analysis, and translation analysis.

The scientific novelty of the results lies in the analysis of lexical-semantic transformations in the English-Ukrainian translation of the novel and the methods used to achieve adequacy in literary translation.

The practical significance of the results is that the analysis of translation transformations can be used by practicing translators and in teaching practical translation theory and practice.

The coursework consists of an introduction, two chapters, conclusions and a list of references.

 

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF UKRAINIAN TRANSLATION

1.1 The concept of translation transformations and their classification

 

From the beginning of the 19th century, Ukrainian translation of literary works began to develop actively as an essential component of the art of translation. The primary goal in studying the problems of translation has always been the methods for achieving a skillful reproduction of the original in the language of translation.

Ukrainian linguist V. Koptilov describes literary translation as a form of creative writing in which texts written in one language are reproduced using the means of another linguistic system [8, p. 10]. Literary translation is the reflection of the thoughts and feelings of the author of a prose or poetic original through the medium of another language [8, p. 45]. In a literary work, not only the content but also the aesthetic and philosophical views are reflected.

Literary translation is also an interaction of cultures to which the original text and the translated text belong [9, p. 29]. Ukrainian researcher M. Shemuda argues that a literary work encompasses various worldviews and the peculiarities of the national culture of the original text [16, p. 165]. A similar view is shared by the German linguist E. Koseryu, who sees the language of the original as a system of meanings or a worldview and the language of the translation as the representation of this world through different meanings [14, p. 53].

American poet T. Eliot wrote that literary translation can be considered an art, as it involves the understanding of a literary text that may conceal a deeper meaning than the conscious intention of the author [10, p. 35]. Any translated literary text offered to the reader must preserve the dialectical unity of the form and content of the literary work. The translator must pay attention to the semantics and stylistics of the work to effectively convey the conceptual and imagery essence of the original through the reflection of its semantic and stylistic structure.

Literary style is considered the most complex of all functional styles, as it demands flawless adherence to the norms of the Ukrainian literary language. However, the language of literary works is not limited to the literary norms. Authors in their works use dialects, barbarisms, colloquial language, professional terminology, archaisms, and sometimes intentionally violate the norms of the literary language for aesthetic purposes. A literary text can be filled with subtextual meanings that every specialist in the field of literary translation may interpret differently, making it challenging to recognize the original work in the translation. The translator must adhere to the accuracy of expression and thus avoid personal embellishments and distortions of the original text, remaining concise.

It is precisely the application of various types of translation transformations and techniques that contributes to achieving the adequate transmission of the ways the author of the original embodies their ideas and conveys the imagery of the original.

 

1.2 The concept of adequacy and equivalence in the process of translating a novel

 

The art of translating a novel involves more than just rendering words from one language into another. It requires capturing the essence, style, and emotional depth of the original work while ensuring that the translated version resonates with the target audience. In this delicate endeavor, two fundamental concepts play a pivotal role: adequacy and equivalence.

Translators must strive to maintain the author’s unique voice, tone, and style, adapting them to the target language while staying true to the author’s vision. Adequacy ensures that the essence of the story remains intact, allowing the reader to experience the novel as the author intended.

The main task of translation is to achieve efficiency in interlingual communication, which is, in turn, determined by the level of semantic proximity of the translation to the original text. Due to cultural differences, grammatical incompatibilities, stylistic peculiarities, and variations in individual elements between the source and target languages, achieving complete congruence is often impossible. It is the concepts of equivalence and adequacy that play a crucial role in delineating the nature and the relationship between the source text and the target text.

Even in ancient times, in the works of philosopher Cicero and poet Horace, we can trace the earliest interpretations of the key translation categories of equivalence and adequacy. The philosophers themselves made a distinction between a literal translation and a translation for meaning, leaning towards preserving the aesthetic character of the work.

Translation is evaluated based on the translation categories-oppositions: adequate translation/inadequate translation and equivalent translation/non-equivalent translation. Both concepts are normative and evaluative in nature but have distinct features.

For example, equivalence can denote the relative proximity between the translation and the original and can be theoretically possible, defining the relationship between the structures and rules of functioning of the two languages, or optimal — achieved in a specific act of translation.

Both cases define equivalence not as a constant value but as one that can change depending on the degree of similarity between the original and the translation. Therefore, it is advisable to divide equivalence into various types, each of which corresponds to different aspects of the source text’s content.

In this case, a model of equivalence levels is proposed, encompassing:

1) the level of communicative intention;

2) the level of situation description;

3) the level of expression;

4) the level of information;

5) the level of linguistic signs [13, p. 43].

Equivalence also refers to preserving the relative equality of meaningful, semantic, stylistic, and functional-communicative information contained in both the original and the translation.

American translation theorist Y. Naida proposed distinguishing equivalence into formal and dynamic types [17, p. 87]. Reproducing the translation as closely as possible in terms of both form and content to accurately convey its overall structure and individual components is called formal equivalence. Dynamic equivalence aims to create a connection between the translated text and its reader, similar to the one that existed between the original text and its readers — native speakers of the language. For this type of translation, it’s essential to use expressions that are completely natural, sometimes chosen in a way that the recipient never strays beyond their own cultural context, which, in turn, diminishes the significance of reproducing the structural and formal aspects of the original [17, p. 89].

 

CHAPTER 2. ANALYSIS OF LEXICAL-SEMANTIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN DONNA TARTT’S NOVEL «THE GOLDFINCH»

2.1 Features of Donna Tartt’s ideostyle in the novel «The goldfinch»

 

The contemporary American writer Donna Tartt is widely known to readers for her three novels that have gained considerable recognition. Her first novel, “The Secret History” (1992), was recognized as one of the 200 best books by BBC in 2003. Later, it was translated into Ukrainian in 2017. After the publication of her second novel, “The Little Friend” (2002), the author became a nominee for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2003.

However, Donna Tartt gained the most popularity with her novel “The Goldfinch” (2013), which received the Pulitzer Prize in 2014, and for which the author was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, given to the best fiction book published in the United States. Later, in 2016, this famous bestseller appeared on the shelves of Ukrainian bookstores, translated into Ukrainian.

The novel introduces the reader to a boy named Theo Decker, who is also the narrator of the work. While in a hotel room in Amsterdam, in a dire situation, Theo recalls the story of his life and reinterprets it together with the readers. At the age of thirteen, his life was abruptly altered due to a terrorist attack in a museum in which he lost his mother and inadvertently stole a masterpiece of the museum (Carel Fabritius’s painting “The Goldfinch”). A chain of life adventures, accompanied by post-traumatic stress, constant relocations, susceptibility to drugs and alcohol, encounters with various social strata, and, most importantly, the anxious concealment of the painting, shatter the boy. However, in times of despair, he finds solace in his treasure, which he continues to keep.

According to many legends, “The Goldfinch” is an image of a bird that brings salvation and assistance. In the painting, “The Goldfinch” is depicted in a hopeless situation, yet it maintains its pride and resilience, thus inspiring the main character. On the other hand, the painting played the role of the Sword of Damocles for Theo, as this famous work of art was constantly sought after worldwide, causing him numerous problems.

Despite the fact that the novel is based on traditional postmodern features in literature, it can also be considered an example of a new genre, which is evident in the author’s writing style.

The idiolect of the American writer Donna Tartt is characterized by an intermedial aspect, which is the synthesis of other art forms in the literary work [7, p. 53]. This process leads to the creation of new artistic meanings, confirmed by individual-authorial interpretations, enriching the novel with various artistic means. Donna Tartt uses visual representation of painting, provides detailed descriptions of the artwork, and makes it the main symbolic core of the work.

The structure of the novel is based on the method of genre matryoshka [15, p. 86], which encompasses various literary genres in one novel, such as psychological, detective, and bildungsroman.

The writer herself seems to play the role of a skilled psychologist, describing the state of the main character throughout his life and the changes in his perception of the world and himself as part of it. This is why the novel is filled with a large number of artistic devices, such as individual-authorial comparisons and metaphorical expressions (“my mouth was like sandpaper”, “it sticks up on the calendar like a rusty nail”), visual and auditory artistic details [7, p. 62].

 

2.2 Application of lexical-semantic transformations in the Ukrainian translation of the novel

 

The artistry inherent in a novel can potentially create numerous translation difficulties that a translator may encounter during their work. The main tasks of a translator are to achieve the same emotional effect, create correct associations in the reader’s mind, and reproduce the full impression of the original. Among the lexical and semantic translation transformations, we can include transcription, transliteration, translation borrowing, specification, generalization, and modulation.

In the researched novel, the technique of transcription and transliteration was used for the translation of most proper nouns (names, surnames, names of cities, countries, streets, hotel names): “Manhattan Avenue“ – Мангеттен-авеню; “Avenue B“ – Авеню Бі; “Gramercy Park“ – Ґреймерсі-парк; “the Village“ – Віллідж; “Edith Wharton“ – Едіт Вортон.

Some proper names were also translated with the help of translation tracing: “St. Patrick’s Cathedral“ – собору Святого Патрика; “the Brooklyn Bridge“ – Бруклінського мосту; “Lower East Side”  – Нижньому Іст-Сайді.

Translation tracing also occurs in the sentence “That’s my vacation” [19, p. 13] – “Тоді для мене настануть вакації“, when Theo, his mom, and her doorman friend discuss their weather preferences and the doorman shares that he likes summer the most because that’s when he has vacation. And although the Ukrainian language has a direct linguistic counterpart to the English noun vacation – “канікули“, “відпустка“, “перерва від роботи“, the outdated word vacation was chosen, which, according to the explanatory dictionary, means “holiday, break in the work of educational institutions, institutions”.

 

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