Authors’ names:
- Olga B. Lukmanova – Linguistics University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Abstract:
The article examines the role and functions of various elements of vertical context in Dorothy L. Sayers’ detective novels and provides a comparative analysis of different strategies in translating these elements into Russian in a work of literary fiction, comparing three Russian-language translations of D. L. Sayers’ novel Strong Poison. Since D. L. Sayers consciously sought to raise the mass genre of the detective novel to the status of serious literature, and all her texts are characterized by a high degree of literariness and allusivity, it is especially important for the translator to be aware of their implicit vertical context, to be able to recognize and decode the implied or condensed information and additional meanings arising from the multiple connections between various intra-textual and extra-textual elements. The comparative analysis of three Russian translations of Strong Poison, conducted using the descriptive method, the comparative-comparative method, the method of component analysis, the method of contextual and stylistic analysis, and the method of studying parallel texts, has clearly shown that unmotivated omissions of elements of vertical context in two of the translations of Sayers’ novel, as well as some unproductive solutions in translating these elements into Russian, significantly reduce the overall quality of translation, as they not only violate the genre integrity of the detective novel, make the text more difficult to understand, and go against the author’s artistic principles, but also distort the images of characters, impoverish the historical and philosophical background of the novel, deprive it of much of its humor, and, ultimately, do prevent the reader from fully appreciating the novel and the author’s unique style.
| Section | CROSS-CULTURAL ASPECTS OF LITERARY DISCOURSE |
| DOI: | 10.47388/2072-3490/lunn2023-64-4-282-303 |
| Downloads | 89 |
| Key words | vertical context; Dorothy L. Sayers; detective novels; Russian translations; Strong Poison |