STRATEGIES OF TRANSLATIONAL MIMESIS: DENIS DIDEROT’S “RAMEAU’S NEPHEW” INTERPRETATIONS BY J.W. GOETHE AND A.V. FEDOROV

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of literary translation strategies applied to Denis Diderot’s dialogue Rameau’s Nephew. The object of the study includes the original text and its canonical translations into German (J.W. Goethe, 1805) and Russian (A.V. Fedorov, 1937). The research focuses on the linguistic mechanisms of transforming “corporeal mimesis”—the plastic nature of the protagonist’s discourse. Through the analysis of lexico-grammatical transformations, the study confirms the hypothesis of a fundamental divergence in translation methods: Goethe’s German translation builds a “vertical” morphological structure (prefixal compression) that enhances the philosophical resonance of the text, whereas A.V. Fedorov’s Russian translation implements a “horizontal” strategy of lexical expansion (analytical constructions and colloquialisms), shifting the protagonist’s expression into the social dimension. It is important to emphasize that the effect of “social grounding” emerging in the Russian text is a result of stylistic accentuation, conditioned by the systemic relations of the Russian language and the influence of the national literary canon. The paper combines linguistic analysis with a philosophical approach to the figure of the Nephew (drawing on Hegel’s concept of the “disintegrated consciousness”), aiming to demonstrate how linguistic structure influences the reconstruction of Enlightenment philosophical meanings.