ВАРІАТИВНІСТЬ ПЕРЕКЛАДАЦЬКИХ ІНТЕРПРЕТАЦІЙ ПОЕЗІЇ «МІЙ ШЛЯХ» ЛЕСІ УКРАЇНКИ КИТАЙСЬКОЮ МОВОЮ: ІМАГОЛОГІЧНИЙ АСПЕКТ

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century, the “New Culture Movement” in China marked the process of modernizing Chinese literature. In search of new ideas, Chinese literary scholars actively engaged in translating global literary works. Ukrainian literature was no exception, as its principal themes resonated with Chinese society. Consequently, translations of Lesia Ukrainka's works into Chinese language emerged. The oeuvre of the Ukrainian poetess gained considerable representation in China, with her poem “My Path” being translated into Chinese three times: by Ge Baoquan in 1948, by Lan Man in 1987, and by Li Hai in 1995. This article aimed to highlight the relevance of this poetry for the recipient’s literature, as well as to examine the strategies for reproducing its lyrical subject through the perspective of other culture. Through textual analysis, the article explores the characteristics of three Chinese adaptations of the poem “My Path” through the lens of imagology. The research revealed a methodological and imagery-related affinity among these Chinese translations, despite their lexical diversity. Although the Chinese translators worked with different Russian sources during the translation process, which influenced the form and lexical transformations, the central themes of self-discovery, romantic depictions of nature, illustrated by Lesia Ukrainka, and the socio-historical peculiarities of Chinese culture, allowed the Chinese translators to emotionally connect the translated texts with the Chinese recipient. From the perspective of imagology, the main methods and strategies of translation, as well as the reproduction of other culture images through the lens of one's own culture, were examined. To connote and emotionally bring the translated text closer to the reader, Chinese translators mostly used the domestication strategy. Moreover, using the method of renomination, realities from the original text were replaced with those closer to Chinese culture. Noteworthy is the inclination of Chinese translators towards using chengyu (Chinese idioms) and traditional poetic images to bring the translation closer to the recipient culture. Considering the peculiarities of the Chinese poetic tradition, Chinese-language adaptations of the poem “My Path” shed the revolutionary and challenging motifs present in the Russian-language originals, thereby reflecting the romantic ideas of finding one's path and purpose, as well as contemplations on the artist's ideals originally reproduced by Lesia Ukrainka.