Translation of Expressive means and Stylistic devices: Strategies and Difficulties

It is characteristic that, under the conditions of necessary transformations, metonymy, unlike the metaphor, never becomes a comparison, but comparatively easily passes into the epithet, in particular, into the substantivized epithet.The most difficult to translate are such cases of metonymic transfer, which are based on the association [4]:between the subject and one of its signs — a metonymic epithet,between the whole and part of the object — the synecdoche,between the proper name and the common name, possessing a common content-indicative basis — antonomasia.Thus, metonymy is a stylistic device based on some kind of association connecting the two concepts these meanings represent. And recommended rules for translation of metonymiesare:A complete translation of a metonymic source unit is used in the case of a complete coincidence of the linguistic and cultural traditions of the expression of an individual property in English and Russian.Structural transformation of the original metonymy is applied in conditions of discrepancy of grammatical norms, when the initial context in which metonymy is used cannot be grammatically fully recreated in the language of translation.Semantic transformation of the original metonymy occurs in the absence of a way of expressing the original individual trait in the target language.Functional transformation of the original metonymy is applied in conditions of the discrepancy of the stylistic status of the metonymic unit in the source and target languages.The complete transformation of the original metonymy, that is, the restoration of direct naming, is used in conditions of a significant divergence of cultural traditions, when the original metonymic word does not exist in the target language and is not known to the translating culture.The irony is the implication of the opposite in externally positive characteristics. Sometimes implied is expressed in linguistic units, which in themselves represent a difficulty for translation, but much more often the problem is in the inconsistency of the traditionally used ways of expressing irony in different cultures. The expression of irony, ridicule is carried out in various ways, which can differ in form, content and functions in different languages and speech traditions.The simplest way of expressing irony in English and Russian is by quoting when a completely standard and expected word or phrase is quoted in a standard context. Such situations, as a rule, are easily translated by a similar technique, with the exception of the area of the quotation, which can vary depending on the coincidence or divergence of the grammatical components of the original unit:When I left my public school I had an extensive knowledge of Latin and Greek literature, knew a certain amount of Greek and Latin history and French grammar, and had "done" a little mathematics.Окончив частную гимназию, я неплохо знал античную литературу, имел представление об античной истории и французском языке, а также"прошел " азы математики.A more complex kind of irony is the opposition of two qualities or two mutually exclusive possibilities in the same closed context. Complications in the translation of such contexts arise if the two contrasting elements in the source text require the transformations themselves in the translated language and in the transformed form often do not provide the text with sufficient ironic expressiveness.Thus, the ironyis based on the simultaneous realisation of two opposite meanings: the permanent, «direct» meaning (the dictionary meaning) of words and their contextual (covert, implied) meaning. Usually the direct meaning in such cases expresses a positive evaluation of the situation, while the context contains the opposite, negative evaluation. And recommended rules translation of irony are [4]:A full translation with minor lexical or grammatical transformations is used in cases where both the verbal and the grammatical composition of the ironic turn in the source text allow, provided that the socio-cultural associations coincide.Expansion of the initial ironic turn is applied in those cases when the sense of ironic usage is not obvious for a foreign cultural environment. In such cases, a part of the implied components of irony is clothed in a verbal form in the form of participial or adverbial movements, extended attributive constructions, and so on.An antonymic translation, that is, a translation with the opposite grammatical or lexical meaning, is applied when direct translation weighted the translation structure due to the difference in grammatical or lexical norms and thereby obscures or does not convey the meaning of irony.Adding semantic components is used in cases where it is required to preserve the original lexical and grammatical forms (for example, quotations) in conditions of information deficiency of similar forms in the target language.Cultural-situational replacement is used in those cases when direct reproduction of the method of expressing irony is impossible, since it will not be perceived by the translating culture, and the irony itself must be transferred, since it constitutes an essential part of the author's mode of expression.Zeugma is a stylistic device that plays upon two different meanings of the word — the direct and the figurative meanings, thus creating a pun. The effect comes from the use of a word in the same formal (grammatical) relations, but in different semantic relations with the surrounding words in the phrase or sentence, due to the simultaneous realization (in one text) of the literal and figurative meaning of a word. A similar effect may result from the decomposition of a set-phrase, when the direct and figurative meanings of the words within the set-phrase are realised at the same time.The approach to translating zeugma is due to the fact that in Russian, unlike English, zeugma is a sharp violation of the literary norm and is extremely rare. Therefore, the stylistic effect of zeugma, as a rule, is conveyed by the general context of the utterance and stylistically marked vocabulary.At noon Mrs. Terpin would get out of bed and humor, put on kimono, airs, and the water to boil for coffee (O. Henry). —ВполденьмиссисТерпинподнималасьсосвоеголожавпреотвратномнастроении, набрасывалакимоно, напускаланасебяважныйвидиставиланаплитучайник.The most widespread and most difficult to translate kind of word game — based on the use of full or partial homonyms. In modern English, this species is often used in the names of books, movies, magazine articles, etc., turning their translation into a real torment for an interpreter.But this kind of play of words cannot be considered completely incompatible with the translation. You can try to find a pair of more or less suitable in the context of homonyms in Russian.Overcoming the difficulties associated with the transfer of the game of words, once again confirms the thesis about the creative nature of the translation activity and the possibility of constant improvement of the translation [3].Литература:Знаменская Т.А. Стилистика английского языка. Основы курса. М., 2004.Galperin I.R. Stylistics. M., 1977.Учебное пособие "Основы теории и практики перевода с английского языка на русский", автор к.ф.н., доцентПрозоровВ.Г.Казакова Т.А. Практические основы перевода. – СПб. Союз, 2000.Ивашкин М.П. и др. Практикум по стилистике.Гуревич В.В. EnglishStylistics. Стилистика английского языка»: Издательство «Флинта», Издательство «Наука»; Москва; 2011.