Variation of a Fiction Text Transfer (On the Example of Translations of M. Twain's Novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" into Russian)

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of accurate translation of sentences as units of translation, comprehensible by itself and, therefore, ideal for comparative analysis of fiction text fragments. We have studied seven translations of a set of inscriptions from the novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain into the Russian language, made from the late XIXth up to the early XXIst century. We have determined considerable variations in translation of separate words, and relative congruity of simple sentences. The latter can either be explained by the same syntactical structure and observance of language and speech norms, or by the familiarity with the previous works. We have found out, that the first and the last translations are quite loose, due to inappropriate use of additions and omissions, as well as unfortunate choice of substitutions. Therefore, the accuracy of translation depends mostly on the personal traits of the translator, rather then the gender and temporal aspects.