Rendering of genre-stylistic specificity when translating fantastic realities in science fiction (using the example of the translation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy “The Lord of the Rings” ).

Pavlova Tatyana Alexandrovna ORCID: 0000-0002-8033-3272 Senior Lecturer, Department of Foreign Languages, Sevastopol State University 299053, Sevastopol, Universitetskaya str., 33, Russia, Sevastopol, Crimea, Rudneva str., 26/5 tatyana_bokhan@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Potovskaya Kseniya Sergeevna Senior Lecturer, Department of Foreign Languages, Sevastopol State University 299053, Russia, Sevastopol, Crimea region, Sevastopol, Universitetskaya str., 33 xevia25@mail.ru

      In the works of the fantasy genre, literary realities not only act as carriers of national and cultural specifics, but also create a magical atmosphere of the work. This causes specific difficulties that arise when translating the genre in question. The translator must preserve the national-specific component of reality and at the same time adapt a fantastic image for the Russian-speaking reader ^[1].

         In addition, the translation of realities in the works of the fantasy genre presents difficulties in choosing the most optimal translation strategy. The translator must decide which is more important: to preserve the exotic form of reality, which will give the text authenticity and recreate the national flavor of the work, or to reveal the semantic content of reality and thereby ensure a better perception of the text by the recipient ^[3].

         The task of the translator is to bring the translation as close as possible to the original so that it fully replaces the original text both in general and in detail. However, this is not always possible in literary translation. Often the translator has to choose: either to focus on the original as a whole and provide the necessary communicative impact on the reader, or to focus on the details and preserve the elements of the specific national coloring of the original.

        Translators make this choice based on the tasks they set themselves. Some consider it important to conform to the spirit of the native language and the habits of the domestic reader, others insist that it is more important to teach the reader to perceive a different mindset, a different culture.

        In this regard , the following translation strategies can be distinguished:

1) cultural adaptation of the original (Russification)

2) preservation of the national identity of the original (romanization)

        With the cultural adaptation of the original, the national boundaries of the text and its national specifics are erased. This is manifested in the replacement of exotic realities with Russian analogues, in changing the entourage of the action, Russification of the names of the characters. As a result of this "inclination to one's morals", the translation text turns out to be stylized in the spirit of the native folklore system, which, of course, makes it possible to bring the content of the text closer to the reader, but at the same time the national identity of the original is lost.

        To preserve the cultural and national specifics of the work, translators resort to lexical borrowings, transcription and transliteration of exotisms (Romanization strategy). This allows you to convey a foreign flavor, recreate the "impression" of the original, and also preserve the individual style of the writer. However, this translation strategy also has its drawbacks. Romanization of exotisms leads to difficulty in understanding the translated text, since the phonetic originality of the vocabulary is achieved at the expense of semantic losses.

        So, the transcribed fantastic realities may remain beyond the reader's perception, which means that the communicative purpose of translation will not be achieved. If the realities are transmitted by other means and their color is lost, the effect will be the same.

        It should be noted that the following factors become decisive in the choice between Romanization and cultural adaptation of reality:

1) the functional role of reality in the content;

2) semantic activity of reality in the context;

3) the brightness of the color of reality.

        Preference is given to cultural adaptation if the reality is a carrier of intense semantic load. If the reality plays an important functional role in the original and creates a certain national - cultural background, it makes sense to transcribe or transliterate it.

        Depending on the chosen strategy, different requirements are imposed on the translation. If it is important for the translator to convey the author's text so that it is close to the domestic reader, the following requirements come to the fore:

·        The translation should convey the thoughts of the original.

· The translation should be read like the original (that is, the reader should not have the feeling that the translation is in front of him).  

·        The translation should reflect the translator's style.

·        The translation should be read as a text that is modern to the translator.

·        The translator has the right to add something to the original or subtract from it.

        If the translator's primary task is to show the uniqueness of another linguistic culture, to convey an individual author's style, he is guided by the following rules:

·        The translation must convey the words of the original.

·        The translation should be read as a translation.

·        The translation should reflect the style of the original.

·        The translation should be read as a text contemporary to the original.

·        The translator has no right to add or subtract anything.

        Considering that in a work of fiction every word can be "loaded" with meaning, the translator has not so much to reproduce the text in another language as to create it anew. Of course, when translating, as far as possible, it is necessary to convey all the semantic shades and nuances laid down by the author in exoticism. However, the desire to avoid semantic losses in translation can lead to a distortion of the picture of the author's world, imposing one's vision of this world and, as a result, to a change in the cultural environment of the entire book as a whole. Of course, the translator has the right to search for consonances and analogues, but at the same time he should not change, shorten the original text, add his own ideas. Otherwise, the mood of the narrative will be changed, the author's assessments of the characters will be shifted, other views will be presented to the reader.

        The choice of style and vocabulary in translation is largely determined by the translator's view of the genre of the work. Each genre has its own specific features, manifested both in linguistic and structural design - and all this genre originality should be preserved during translation.

        In the field of translation of fiction of the fantasy genre, there is clearly a tendency to transfer genre-stylistic features of fantasy works by means of a literary fairy tale. Translations of works of the genre in question indicate that translators do not distinguish between fantasy and fairy tale, which causes a number of aesthetic and content losses during translation.

        There are several features of translations made in the style of a literary fairy tale:

· the tendency to Russification of the text: the task of clarity of the text is brought to the fore at the expense of its specific national coloring, that is, color;

· changing the parameter of the temporary attribution of the work;

· text reduction;

· simplified retelling of some text fragments;

· fabulous style of presentation.

        Some researchers consider the transfer of genre and stylistic features of fantasy works by means of a literary fairy tale to be illegal, since both fantasy and fairy tale should be considered as self-valuable genres that have characteristic features inherent only to them ^[3].

        A characteristic feature of the fantasy genre is the abundance of national folklore elements. The magical world of fantasy bears the imprint of national traditions and folklore and mythological ideas, and cultural adaptation of the original, manifested in the Russification of the names of characters and in the replacement of realities with Russian analogues, will inevitably lead to the erasure of the national specifics of the work.

        Another distinctive feature of the fantasy genre is the involvement of the depicted reality in an alternative past. Fantasy works depict an artificially created heroic past, unlike a fairy tale, which is attributed to an uncertain past ("when milk rivers flowed", "when animals could talk") ^[4].

        The abridgment and simplified retelling of the text are not applicable to the fantasy genre, since they lead to the loss of magical attributes and symbols, and as a result, the reader is deprived of the opportunity to imagine the fantastic world of the work as the author imagined it.

        Using the example of the translation of the Tolkien trilogy by the translator V. Muravyov, we will consider how the genre - stylistic specificity of fantasy is transmitted by means of a literary fairy tale.

        This translation is characterized by a tendency to Russification of the text, which manifests itself in changing names, titles and ethnonyms so that they become understandable and familiar to the ear of the Russian reader.

        Russification occurs during the transfer of quasi-related names. These are mostly fictitious names, the internal form of which is used by the author to implement a communicative task through aesthetic influence. The translator V. Muravyov's characteristic English-language anthroponyms and toponyms are often replaced by the corresponding Slavonisms. For example: Rivendell - Razdol, Glorfindel –Vseslavur, Glamdring – Yarrist, Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod – Herald of the tribe of Slavurs.

        On the one hand, it seems reasonable to modify exotic names and titles so that they become understandable or familiar to the Russian reader.  Translations like Grishnakh – Gryshnak, Moria – Moria, Ithilien – Itilia, Sirannon – Sirannon, Balrog – Barlog greatly facilitate the perception of a text saturated with foreign-language realities, but, on the other hand, they lead to its cultural adaptation. Considering that for the reader of the translation text these names will be even more exotic than for the reader of the original, they can either be transliterated or transcribed.

        Tolkien's work is characterized by the use of proper names of different origin. The content plan of most fictitious names is easily deciphered: Burrowses – Glubokops, Goodbodies – Dorodnings, Bracegirdles – Fat-Bellied, Goldberry – Zlatenika. However, in the work there are characters whose names are taken by the writer from Scandinavian sagas, Welsh and Old Norse epics. For example, some names of dwarves (Durin, Tror, Frar) are borrowed from the "Elder Edda", some names and titles contain Old English roots (Eowyn, Scatha). The true meaning of such names is not entirely clear even to the sophisticated English reader, for whom they turn into an additional exotic background of the magical world of the Celts and Germans.

        When transmitting realities with a partial discrepancy in the national systems of fantastic images, errors may arise due to the tendency to fit someone else's national tradition to the domestic one. So, for example, from the point of view of the adequacy of the translation, the name Mirkwood coincides with its equivalent in the translation language – Likholesye. However, it does not take into account at all that in the mythological system of the Scandinavians, whose legends became one of the sources of the work, Murkweed (in the English phrase Merkwood) was associated not just with a distant forest, but with the border separating one world from another, and even with the land of darkness, that is, the kingdom of the dead. The Likholesye variant, although it suggests something darkly magical, is associated with a whole complex of purely Slavic, undesirable in this case associations with the cycle of epics about Ilya Muromets and the Robber Nightingale.

        In the same translation version, scenes related to military themes are written out in the color of Russian epic heroics. In addition to warriors and knights, we meet the voivodes of the Militia, which sends the capital city of Minas Tirith to war with Sauron; Aragorn's companions, walking the Path of the Dead, are vigilantes, the squad itself is a Gray Squad; King Theoden's entourage are gridni; orcs are armed with berdysh, scimitars and cleavers; Horodrim and Mustangrim bear banners; Eomer has a white helmet on his helmet chuprun; Aragorn claims the grand ducal throne. In addition, the words magi, warlocks, serf, witcher, goat-bearer, as well as the names Finger, Hand, Support, Adversary evoke images of the reader not of the English, but of the Russian Middle Ages.

        The general impression of the "Russian spirit" is enhanced by numerous proverbs and sayings, which are found in abundance throughout the text of V. Muravyov's translation. For example: "beyond the mountains, beyond the valleys"; "whether it's long or short"; "the morning of the evening is more complicated"; "they are not sewn with a bast"; "to sharpen the blanks"; "if they stick around, they won't collect bones".

        Also, in V.Muravyov's translation, the parameter of the temporal attribution of the work is changed. In the chapter "The Desecrated Hobbitania", the translators quite transparently depict the recent past of the Russian state, thereby violating the temporary laws of the fantasy genre. The specific vocabulary of "requisition", "for the purpose of unfolding", "rations", "barracks", as well as the names and titles of the Regular (Lo ckhole s), Generalissimo (Chief), Leader (Boss) quite clearly evoke the image  Soviet Russia of the 20s - 30s of the twentieth century. In this case, translators not only replace someone else's national culture with the domestic one, but also place the reader in a time continuum that does not correspond to the canons of the fantasy genre ^[6].

        It should be noted that some fragments of the text, as well as literary realities, are omitted in the translation under consideration. If reality does not play an important functional role in the context, it is usually eliminated. This happened to the reality of Pukel-men (navanie disappeared tribe), which is mentioned in the original only once. Since reality does not affect the development of the plot, the translators found it necessary to omit it. As a result, one of the fantastic images created by Tolkien disappeared ^[7].

        Thus, the above-mentioned features of V. Muravyov's translation allow us to talk about a change in the genre of the trilogy, an attempt to remake a work of fantasy into a magical epic tale. As a result of such a "change of entourage", the general atmosphere of the artwork was changed and the national and cultural identity of the original was erased ^[7].

Literary realities are carriers of national and cultural specifics, and for this reason it is difficult to translate. However, given that the realities in the fantasy genre create a special fantastic environment, the task of the translator becomes more complicated. He should not only preserve the nationally colored component of the fictional reality, but also adapt the literary image for the Russian-speaking reader.