3. Translation Problems of Lexical Stylistic Devices

To enhance the communicative effect of his message the author of the source text may make use of various stylistic devices, such as metaphors, similes, puns and so on. Coming across a stylistic device the translator has to make up his mind whether it should be preserved in his translation or left out and compensated for at some other place.

The problem of stylistic devices touches upon the relative functional value of seemingly identical stylistic resources.

Stylistic device is a conscious and intentional intensification of some typical structural and / or semantic property of a language unit (neutral or expressive) promoted to a generalized status and thus becoming a generative model.

Some of the examples of translating stylistic devices are presented in the following table:

Device	Example	Way of translation
Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action that it does not literally denote in order to imply a resemblance. * A distinction is made between a metaphor, which compares without like or as; a simile, which uses like or as in the comparison; and personification, which gives human qualities to something that is not human, usually in abstract ideas.	Ex: He is a lion in battle. – В бою он просто лев. Ex: Assuming that it was now up to him to put bread on the family table, Charles headed for London … Посчитав, что теперь пришел его черед кормить семью, Чарльз отправился в Лондон …	Metaphors are translated either by: 1) keeping to semantic similarity; 2) choosing an appropriate pragmatic equivalent flood of tears
Similes are more precise, more restricted than metaphors, thus they are easier to translate. A simile is a comparison that shows similarities in things that are basically different. A simile is usually introduced by as or like. Similes are often used in both poetry and prose. Many metaphors and similes are conventional figures of speech regularly used by the members of the language community. Such figurative units may be regarded as idioms and translated in a similar way. And the main problem is cultural, that is how one adopts or transfers the simile. Ex: snow-white - 1) белоснежный; белый, как снег (в странах, где бывает снег); 2) белый, как перья цапли	Ex: My heart is like a singing bird Whose nest is in a watered shoot; My heart is like an apple tree Whose boughs are bent with thickest fruit. Christina Rossetti Ex: Mrs. Mallard’s eyes shone like polished gems when she realized she was free at last. Глаза миссис Мэлард просто засияли от счастья, когда она осознала, что наконец-то свободна. Literal translation of polished gems is шлифованные драгоценные камни.	Similes are translated either by: 1) keeping to semantic similarity; 2) choosing an appropriate pragmatic equivalent.
Personification is reference to something general or abstract as if it were an individual (i.e. the attribution of human characteristics to things, abstract ideas, etc., as for literary or artistic effect)	Love conquers all. (Love is personified.)	Literal translation
Metonymy is the substitution of a word referring to an attribute for the thing that is meant (замена одного слова другим на основе связи их значений по смежности). In other words the name of an object is transferred to take the place of something else with which it is associated. Normally it requires the knowledge of the target language culture.	For example, the use of the crown to refer to a monarch Institutional metonymies such as the Kremlin and the White House may or may not require any explanation. Ex: the Kremlin - правительство России Ex: the White House (the US presidency) - Белый дом, правительство США Ex: Both the FBI and the White House were determined to learn how the Post was getting its information and to put a stop to it. (C. Bernstein and B. Woodward, ‘All the President's Men’, ch. 4) - ФБР и Белый дом решили докопаться, каким образом "Вашингтон пост" получает подобную информацию, и положить этому конец.	Literal translation
Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration used for effect.	Ex: He embraced her a thousand times. – Он обнял ее тысячу раз.	Literal translation
Epithet is a descriptive word or phrase, especially of praise or blame, added to or substituted for a person's name. Epithets often show the attitude of the author to the object he is speaking about and if these epithets are used regularly, they become clichés.	Ex: "Lackland" (безземельный) is an epithet for King John. Ex: America the Beautiful - "Америка прекрасная" / Красавица Америка	Literal translation
Alliteration is the use of the same consonant (consonantal alliteration) or of a vowel, not necessarily the same vowel (vocalic alliteration), at the beginning of each word or each stressed syllable in a line of verse. Alliteration sounds that are difficult to pronounce make a “tongue twister”.	Alliteration is used in many common set phrases: safe and sound - цел и невредим, жив-здоров Tell your aunt you're safe and sound, and right on the dot of seven. (P. H. Johnson, ‘An Impossible Marriage’, part I, ch. 14) Передайте тетушке, что я доставил вас в целости и сохранности ровно в семь.	Corresponding TL equivalent
Pun (also play on words) is an amusing use of a word or phrase that has two meanings, or of words with the same sound but different meanings.	Ex: "Ben Battle was a soldier bold, And used to war's alarms: But a cannonball took off his legs, So he laid down his arms." (Thomas Hood) Ex: Seven days without water make one weak. (not week)	A pun can be translated only by a word in the TL with a similar capacity to develop two meanings in a particular context. English is comparatively rich in polysemantic words and homonyms, whereas in Russian these word types are rather rare.
Allusion is an indirect reference by the word-combination to the fact of everyday life.	This is Gangsta rap for executives, hardly a recipe for success in business. Да это скорее гангстерский рэп для руководителей, а не рецепт успеха в бизнесе. gangsta rap - a style of rap music, usually characterized by lyrics about Black street gangs in the US, often with violent, nihilistic, and misogynistic themes	Literal translation
Antonomasia is 1) the substitution of a title or epithet for a proper name (ex: his highness - Его Высочество) 2) the use of a proper name for an idea	That there are modern-day Attilas and Machiavellis is obvious, and the same uncritical admiration is in evidence. Современные Аттилы и Макиавелли существуют - это совершенно очевидно; также налицо и тот факт, что ими слепо восхищаются. (the proper names - Attila and Machiavelli symbolize negative features of character)	Literal translation

Lecture 7