DIACHRONIC TRANSLATION PLURALITY IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CREATIVE POTENTIAL OF THE TARGET CULTURE (case study of Ukrainian retranslations of W. Shakespeare’s tragedies)

Abstract

A “wave” of literary retranslations was occurring at the beginning of the 21st century, due to various factors including the ageing of previously translated texts, ideological considerations in connection with changing cultural norms, and the ever-continuing search for the perfect translation. The three aforementioned factors for retranslation share at least one overarching consideration – the translator’s desire to leave a trace in cultural history and literature by creating a personal, contemporary and fully acceptable and at the same time artistically innovative interpretation of the great works of ‘World Literature’. The article considers the diachronic plurality of Ukrainian retranslations of Shakespeare’s tragedies based on the creative potential of the target language culture. The characteristic of artistic methods of the XIX–XXI centuries (Romanticism, classicism, neoclassicism, neo-baroque, modernism, and postmodernism) is given. Literary schools, which include Ukrainian retranslations of Shakespeare’s tragedies of the XIX–XXI centuries, are substantiated. The synthesis of appropriate artistic method and individual style of translation is analyzed. The goal of the research is to reveal the diachronic plurality variability of different Shakespeare’s tragedies Ukrainian retranslations, conditioned by the literary style of the corresponding epoch as a component of spiritual culture. The research incorporates the following general research methods: ‒ analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, observation and abstraction for substantiation the theoretical foundations of the literary process of the XIX-XXI centuries; ‒ methods of literary analysis (philological, historical and comparative) for systematization the literary theory achievements and better understanding the essence of artistic methods and literary trends of the respective epoch; ‒ comparative analysis and translation analysis methods to compare, on the one hand, time-remote original text with different Ukrainian retranslations, and on the other hand, different Ukrainian retranslations with each other in order to identify specific features of individual translation style. As a material of the research, six different Ukrainian retranslations of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet” performed by M. Starytsky (1882), P. Kulish (1899), Yu. Klen (1930), G. Kochur (1935), L. Hrebinka (1939), and Yu. Andrukhovich (2000) were chosen. For the greatest clarity, the comparison of translations is carried out on a short fragment from the tragedy – Hamlet’s monologue To be or not to be… The study showed that cultural reality is determined by language, which specifies of the communicative system of linguistic and cultural society, which, in its turn, contributes to the creation of the linguistic reality. The text of the translation mediates the link between cultures and the context, which determines its ability to bring a sense of interacting cultures. The translation reflects the translator’s individuality, formed in different historical conditions, his aesthetic and social views, which are different from the author’s views. The variability of the diachronic plurality of different Ukrainian retranslations of Shakespeare’s tragedies is determined by the literary style of the epoch as a component of spiritual culture and the individual style of translation

Keywords

• retranslation
• diachronic plurality of retranslations
• target culture
• translation style
• timeremote original text