Cultural interpretation of ethnic archetypes

Abstract

The relevance of the study is due to the current state of the theory and practice of translation (both in Russia and throughout the world) which does not consider non-contextual ethnic content of the basic levels – from appeals to national recreational practices to cultural archetypes and patterns. The aim of the present study is to analyze the translations of the Kabardian poet from the point of view of substrate information preserved in foreign texts. The leading approach studying the semantics of ethnic institutional archetypes and considering specific examples which prove that the cross-cutting motives of national Kabardian thinking (formed on the basis of specific ethical standards and ideals of the people) are not taken into account in translations. The main conclusion of the authors’ is that the adequacy of foreign language interpretations of poetic works should be based not only on detailed metaphrase, but, first and foremost, on a thorough study of the life practices of the ethnos, especially those that directly formed the behavioral norms of the people in the past and continue to maintain their relevance today. The materials of the article can be useful when working on translations of poetic texts of the peoples of the North Caucasus.

Keywords: translation, North Caucasian literature, Kabardian poetry, authenticity, national image of the world, barbarism, cultural interpretation, reflection, associativity, idiomatics, transitivity