Heroic Discourse in the Context of Translating English-Language Fairy Tales into Russian (J.R. Kipling’s Works Used as the Example)

Introduction. The article discusses the “heroic” theme in the context of Modern fairy tales. The relevance of this study is related to the relevance of the very concept of heroism, which was different at various times. The semantic features of “hero” concept in the ancient literary monuments and in the later works is examined hereafter. Also discussed the question on how this concept has transformed over the time, from the mythologized monumentality of a fairy saga hero to the simplicity and everyday life characters of Modern Times epoch fairy tales, the plots of which rather can be based on real events unrelated to magic. Methodology and sources. The method of comparative analysis is the main tool used hereafter. As the examples, J.R. Kipling's fairy tales “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” and “Toomai of the Elephants” are considered. A comparative analysis of characteristic fragments of original texts and translations, made by K.I. Chukovsky and M.I. Klyagina-Kondratieva, being intended for readers of the first half of the last century in the USSR is carried out. Also, some of the author's semantic tools aimed at the children's audience of the Victorian era in England are analyzed. Results and discussion. Basing on the results, we can see some examples of semantic means making it possible to adapt Kipling's original works about India, published in London in the 1890s, for the Soviet reader who was not familiar with the life in a remote southern country. Some of the author's linguistic tools aimed at Victorian era children's audience in England are also analyzed. A comparative analysis of the characteristic fragments of original texts and translations of fairy tales is carried out. Some specific features of the USSR discourse in the first half of the last century, when the translations of Kipling's fairy tales were first performed and published, the relevance of the heroic theme for that historical period have been considered. Also, various means of language, which, in our opinion, should contribute to successful interaction with the “target”, predominantly children's, readership, are discussed. Conclusion. As the result of our research, we can conclude, that the general specific features of discourse related to that historical period, when Kipling's fairy tales were translated into Russian, turned out to be very favorable. Thanks to the skills of translators, as well as the appropriate historical conditions, fairy tales have found their readers. Moreover, these fairy tales, like other works by J. R. Kipling, remain popular still today.

Authors: Olga V. Atamanova

Direction: Linguistics

Keywords: heroic discourse, fiction, poetry, fairy tale, literary translation, poetic translation, comparative analysis of texts

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