The image of the sea in Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, the Sea: On the problem of author’s and translator’s interpretation

Abstract

The article examines the central sea image of Iris Murdoch’s novel The Sea, the Sea. The image of sea, as one of the key ones in the world literature, is considered on the material of the original novel and in its translation into Russian by Maria Lorie. The aim of the study is to analyze the linguistic means of embodying the image of sea and their text-forming potential in the above-mentioned novel and its translation into Russian. The study is based on the method of modeling the author’s image by analyzing various ways of its linguistic representation and metaphorization. The translation analysis is based on the study of shifts as the consequences of interlingual asymmetry. The authors note that the modeling of the author’s image of sea is carried out in the novel in different ways: the description of sea through the prism of different channels of perception (visual, auditory, olfactory); organization of the text on the basis of such key metaphors as “sea – life”, “sea – death”, “sea – creator”, etc. The analysis of various ways of linguistic representation of perceptual images of sea, which are closely related to thinking and the subconscious, associative memory and imagination, has shown the special importance and semantic loading in the text of lexical groups of the sphere of perception. The authors stress that visual perception is in first place in terms of the importance and volume of information received by a person; followed by hearing, touch, smell and taste. The dominant feature of sea from the point of view of perception is visual (color, light, size, shape, etc.). Thanks to visual features, a unique image of sea is created – frosted glass, a mirror that emits light, reflects human experiences and is reflected in a person. Before the reader there is the image of sea as a living being, habitat, a protector, a refuge, medicine, a source of danger and death, a creator. Sea is often alive; it smiles, jumps, splashes; sea can be a threat. Sometimes it serves as a background against which the characters experience a wide range of feelings and emotions (jealousy, hatred, struggle). It makes the reader think about eternity. However, sea does not accompany a person, but lives its own life. On the one hand, in sea, as in a mirror, emotions and experiences of a person are reflected. On the other hand, a person adapts to sea, which can be good or evil, can caress or kill. The analysis of the Russian translation of the text indicates a fairly high degree of equivalence in the translation of metaphors and reflection of all shades of the image of the sea. All translation shifts are justified in terms of conveying the emotional background of the work.