ENGLISH FOLKLORE TEXTS IN THE CONTEXT OF TRANSLATION

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive study of English folklore texts from the perspective of translation. The relevance of the research is determined by the need for an in-depth investigation of the reproduction of the national and cultural specificity of English folklore in Ukrainian within the context of increasing intercultural communication. The aim of the study is to identify the specific features of translating English folklore texts, determine the major difficulties encountered in their translation into Ukrainian, analyse the translation strategies and transformations employed, and assess the degree to which the cultural and artistic uniqueness of the source texts is preserved. The research material comprises 50 English folklore texts, including folk tales, legends, myths, ballads, and traditional narratives, selected from the digital library Folklore, Folktales, and Fairy Tales from England and the collection English Fairy Tales, together with their Ukrainian translations. The study employs descriptive, comparative translation, and contextual methods, as well as translation transformation analysis and elements of quantitative analysis. The findings demonstrate that English-language folklore texts are characterised by genre diversity and extensive use of culturally marked vocabulary, culture-specific items, archaisms, folklore formulae, phraseological units, and symbolic images, all of which create considerable challenges for translators. The study reveals that the most frequently applied translation techniques include descriptive translation, functional substitution, transcription, transliteration, calquing, concretisation, generalisation, and compensation. It is established that the choice of a translation strategy depends primarily on the degree of cultural markedness of a linguistic unit and the necessity to preserve its pragmatic function. The analysis also shows that contemporary Ukrainian translations generally ensure an adequate rendering of the content, genre characteristics, and artistic originality of English-language folklore texts, although certain culture-specific elements undergo adaptation in accordance with the norms of Ukrainian linguoculture. The practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of applying its findings in translation studies, linguocultural studies, folklore studies, and the professional training of future translators and philologists