SITUATIONAL EQUIVALENCE AND ATTAINMENT OF THE ADEQUATE TRANSLATION (EXEMPLIFIED BY LITERARY PROSE)

Abstract

Situations typical of two cultures and readers of the original and its translation rendered inadequately are dealt with. The comparison of excerpts from an American novel and its translation into Russian containing such situations is made on the basis of their presupposed identity or similarity. Apart from semantic and stylistic aspects of the situations described in the original and their equivalents in the translated text, specific national cultural traits resembling purely Russian peculiarities and realities are also taken into account. The analyzed examples are subdivided into two categories – those to be understood with the help of the information provided by the original itself and those demanding some additional sources to this end. Inadequate variants are commented in detail by the authors who also provide probable causes of the distortions made as well as their own versions of the adequate translation.