TRANSLATION OF A LITERARY TEXT IN THE LIGHT OF A NONLINEAR DYNAMICAL SYSTEM THEORY

Abstract

In the article a literary text translation is considered from the point of view of the theory of nonlinear dynamics. The notions of linearity, determinism, and fractals are used to study the translation process. The author shares the view that the translation process is entirely typical of the processes of nonlinear dynamics. Two translations into English of A. Chekhov’s “Anyuta” are analyzed from the point of view of an emergent character of linguistic structures. The first translation is performed by the British translator Constance Garnett. The latter translation is by the American translators Richard Peaver and Larissa Volokhonsky. The research takes into account the ways of translating Russian verbs used in A. Chekhov’s story into English. The article argues that complex interactions in the text system result in two alternative translations of one source text. It is concluded that the application of the key notions from nonlinear dynamics to the translation process can contribute to a more accurate transfer of the meaning of the source text into a foreign language.