HISTORICAL REALIA AS A CHALLENGE FOR LITERARY TRANSLATION: UKRAINIAN-GERMAN EQUIVALENTS IN THE NOVEL «SVIATOSLAV» BY S. SKLIARENKO

Abstract

The study focuses on the problem of translating Ukrainian historical realia in the novel «Sviatoslav» by S. Skliarenko. Realia are understood as lexical units that denote unique social, cultural, everyday-life-related, historical phenomena specific to the ethnocultural context, which typically have no direct equivalents in the target language. Their translation poses a significant challenge, as it requires not only linguistic proficiency but also deep cultural competence. The aim of this research is to systematize the historical realia found in the novel, to analyze their semantic characteristics, and to identify the translation strategies and techniques applied in their rendering into German. The realia are classified into three thematic groups: sociocultural, sociopolitical, and onomastic. The research corpus includes 275 historical realia and 313 translation variants. The analysis reveals that the most frequently used translation methods are descriptive translation, lexical-semantic substitution, and functional equivalence (analogue). Onomastic realia are most often rendered through transcription or transliteration. The findings confirm that the translation of realia is not merely a linguistic operation but an act of intercultural communication that requires a balanced approach between preserving cultural authenticity and ensuring comprehensibility for the target audience.