Translation strategies for preserving implicit axiological meanings of a literary work (based on South Korean poems and their English translations)

Abstract

The current research is dedicated to identifying axiological meanings implicitly expressed in a text which is due to its specific semantic organization (unique cultural content, culturally conditioned way of sending and receiving information). The article explores possibilities for cultural and pragmatic adaptation during the translation of such axiological meanings. The aim of this research is to uncover basic translation strategies of allocation of values encoded in the text culture. The scientific uniqueness of the research lies in the fact that in linguistics and Translation Studies, the possibilities of linguistic and cultural translation of axiological meanings, implicitly expressed in a text in an Eastern language (South Korean), to a Western language (English) have been demonstrated for the first time, which is due to cardinal differences of dominant perception in Eastern and Western cultures. Acquired results have shown that in the process of translation the “invisible” part of the text’s cultural content is transmitted by means of strategies of elimination of national and cultural specifics (skipping, compensation, substitution) and explication of national and cultural specifics (in-text explanations, translator’s comments, as well as bilingual publications with linguacultural information).