INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE OF THE TRANSLATOR IN THE REFLECTION OF MODERN INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

Abstract

This article considers the figures of the translators of Ukrainian literature (Friedrich Bodenstedt, Olga Kobylanska, Anna-Halja Horbatsch, Sabine Stör, Claudia Dathe) through the prism of their intercultural competence. It turns out that the history of Ukrainian-German translation was dominated by two trends that affected the modern vision of Ukraine and its culture in the international arena. Translators who first became acquainted with Russian language and literature most often retransmitted Russian views in their translations from Ukrainian and, particularly in their paratexts, established a tradition of reproducing Ukrainian onomastics in accordance with Russian pronunciation. This trend manifested itself in the second half of the nineteenth century and, especially brightly, during the Soviet times. Substitution of the Ukrainian national character with the Russian one is mostly represented in the rendering of onyms (anthroponyms and toponyms), according to the norms of Russian phonetics, which marked the Ukrainian literature as part of the Russian cultural space. This kind of rewriting had the effect of German-speaking readers forming a corresponding impression on the Ukrainian culture. Translators working without the mediation of the Russian language (translators from Western Ukraine, Ukrainian emigrant translators, and a new generation of German speakers) opposed this trend due to the additional efforts to promote Ukrainian literature. Only because of the intercultural competence of the abovementioned translators, Ukraine has gained its voice on the cultural map of Europe.