INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
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PRAGMATIC TRANSPOSITION IN LITERARY TRANSLATION
To’lqinova Ma’muraxon
Samarqand City School No. 29
Annotation:
Pragmatic transposition in literary translation refers to taking into account the
pragmatic aspects of language during the translation process. The translator must consider the
text not only from grammatical and lexical perspectives but also its context, cultural
characteristics, and the author’s intentions. This process helps accurately convey the original
meaning and spirit of the work, providing the reader with an opportunity to understand another
culture.
Key words:
literary translation,pragmatic transposition,translation process,pragmatic aspects of
language,context,cultural characteristics.
Annotatsiya:
adabiy tarjimada pragmatik transpozitsiya - bu tarjima jarayonida tilning
pragmatik jihatlarini hisobga olishni anglatadi. Tarjimon matnni nafaqat grammatik va leksik
jihatdan, balki uning kontekstini, madaniy xususiyatlarini va muallifning niyatlarini ham
inobatga olishi kerak. Bu jarayon asarning asl ma'nosini va ruhini to'g'ri yetkazishga yordam
beradi, o'quvchiga boshqa madaniyatni tushunish imkonini beradi.
Kalit so'zlar:
adabiy tarjima,pragmatik transpozitsiya,tarjima jarayoni,tilning pragmatik
jihatlari,
kontekst,madaniy xususiyatlar.
Аннотация:
прогматическая транспозиция в литературном переводе означает учет
прагматических аспектов языка в процессе перевода. Переводчик должен учитывать
текст не только с грамматической и лексической точки зрения, но и его контекст,
культурные особенности и намерения автора. Этот процесс помогает точно передать
изначальный смысл и дух произведения, а также предоставляет читателю возможность
понять другую культуру.
Ключевые слова:
литературный перевод,прогматическая транспозиция,процесс
перевода,прагматические аспекты языка,контекст,культурные особенности.
A literary translator deals with a text which involves linguistic, pragmatic and cultural elements.
Ganesh Devy summarizes the characteristics of literary translation: expressive, connotative,
symbolic, focusing on both form and content, subjective, allowing multiple interpretations,
timeless and universal, using special devices to heighten the communicative effect and
tendency to deviate from the language norms (Devy 112). Lindsey Gutt stresses that while
translating a literary work one should preserve the style of the original text. In accordance with
him, “this wider stylistic dimension of communication is, of course, of special interest to
literary studies, and so it is not surprising that theorists concerned with literary translation have
paid considerable attention to the preservation of the stylistic properties of texts” (Hatim 23).
Pragmatic relations in literary translation are superimposed on semantic relations and play an
equally important role in analyzing the original text and in producing an equivalent text in the
target language. According to Komissarov and Koralova, words as semiotic signs are not
indifferent label of objects, they may acquire definite implications, become associated with
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 09,2025
Journal:
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page 75
certain theories, beliefs, likes and dislikes, and people develop certain attitudes to them
(Комиссаров 43). The pragmatic implications of the word are an important part of the meaning
that produces a certain effect upon the receptor. Every act of speech communication is meant
for a certain receptor as it is aimed to produce a certain effect on him or her. In this respect “any
communication is an exercise in pragmatics” (Riazi). Semantically equivalent messages do not
necessarily mean the same thing to the source-and-target language receptors that is why
pragmatics of the original literary text requires important changes in the transmitted message.
The translator should be aware of whether the message is a statement of fact, a request, a
command, an entreaty or a joke. Very often the sender’s communicative intent differs from
what the message seems to say.
Pragmatic problems will be evident in case of applying pragmatic principles such as speech acts,
presupposition, implicatures, deictic expressions and politeness formulae in translation. First,
preserving the force of speech acts may be problematic. Mistranslating speech acts is due to the
difference between the sense of the force of utterance, in other words locutionary and
illocutionary acts. Politeness as a sociocultural phenomenon can be seen as one of the basic
guidelines of human interaction. The goal of politeness can be described as reflecting or
realizing the social or interpersonal relations designed to facilitate interaction by minimizing the
potential for conflict and confrontation inherent in human interchange. Studies examine various
speech acts in different languages have provided valuable insights into culture- specific features
of politeness and difficulties foreign language learners have in recognizing and adhering to the
politeness norms of the target language. Polite requests are central to Levinson’s theory and the
most frequently studies speech act in cross-cultural and interlanguage pragmatics (Levinson 66).
It can be appropriate in both English and Russian to use the imperative Tell me as an opening
request for information as in the following extract from The Dead, one of the short stories in
Dubliners by James Joyce. Gabriel, a middle-aged friend of the family is about to start a
conversation with the teenage Lily. E.g. -Tell me, Lily, he said in a friendly tone, do you still go
to school -O no, sir, she answered. I'm done with schooling this year and more (Joyce 194).
Translating implicatures may also cause problems. Some implied meaning is inferred beyond
what is said. For example, the title of the novel Crooked House by Agatha Christie was
translated into Russian as Кривой домишко where the additional lexical emotive implication
of crookedness (wretchedness) was matched by emotive suffix -ишко, one of the numerous
emotive suffixes so characteristic of the Russian lexical system. As for a deictic expression, in
linguistics it refers to the phenomenon when understanding the meaning of certain words and
phrases in an utterance requires contextual information. English has a wide variety of
expressions that are commonly analyzed as deictics: personal pronouns such as I and you,
spatial adverbs such as here and there, demonstratives such as now, then, today, ago, and
recently motion verbs such as come and go, and tense morphemes such as the future auxilary
will and the past tense suffix-ed. In addition, grammatical constructions such as the imperative
and vocative are often characterized as deictics. Other linguistic elements can be used
deictically if they are combined with a genuine deictic or some other referential means. For
example, a noun such as tree may refer to a concrete entity in the situational context if it is
accompanied by a demonstrative that relates the concept of tree to a concrete entity in the
surrounding situation (that tree). Alternatively, content words can be grounded in the speech
situation by nonlinguistic means such as gesture, eye-gaze, or the presentation of an object. In
general, as Levinson has pointed out, just about any nominative expression can be used
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 09,2025
Journal:
https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai
page 76
deictically if it is accompanied by communicative device that indicates a direct referential link
between language and context (Levinson 54).
Key aspects of pragmatic transposition. Maintaining purpose and intention. The translator
determines the intention of the author of the text (to inform, persuade, command, entertain, etc.)
and expresses it in a form appropriate to the target language audience. Adaptation to context.
The social and cultural context, communication situation and audience characteristics are taken
into account; if necessary, references, terms or examples are changed.
- Restoring illocutionary and perlocutionary effects. It is determined what reaction the text
should cause (for example, to persuade, to laugh, to encourage) and this effect is ensured to be
preserved in the target language.
Adaptation of style and tone
- The level of formality, language style, emotional load, etc. are recreated in accordance with
the target audience.
When is pragmatic transposition used?
- When there are cultural references, aphorisms, jokes or stereotypical elements.
- When the social role or level of communication is specific to the source language and requires
a different expression in the target language audience.
- When a literal translation would lose the pragmatic intention or have the wrong effect.How to
do it — steps.
1. Context and intention analysis
- Identify the communicative purpose, audience, and situation of the text.
2. Effect and priority determination
- Identify and prioritize the main pragmatic functions (inform, persuade, command, request)
and maintain them.
3. Adaptation and adaptation
- Change cultural or linguistic features where necessary, find synonyms or equivalent phrases.
4. Verification and testing
- The goal is to test the perlocutionary effect in the audience or through expert evaluation.
Examples. Jokes or wordplay
- In order to preserve the original cultural or linguistic joke, the translator may create an
equivalent metaphor or a new joke.
Formal message.
- Formal address forms (e.g., you/you) are changed to suit the target language culture.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 09,2025
Journal:
https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai
page 77
Cautions and limitations.
- Too strong an adaptation can lose the originality and tone of the source text.
- Risk of misinterpretation of the product: the perlocutionary effect can be wrong.
- Ethical issues: in some cases, changing the original information may go against the author's
intention.In literary translation, pragmatic transposition is an important approach to preserving
the communicative purpose and impact of a work for the target language audience. It requires
adapting content and expression, if necessary, taking into account the cultural, stylistic, and
illocutionary elements of the text. When used correctly, the impact and readability of the work
are preserved; when used incorrectly, the author's intention may be lost or misinterpreted.
References
1.
Hatim, Basil. Communication across Cultures: Translation Theory and Contrastive Text
2.
Linguistics. Exeter: University of Exeter, 1990.
3.
Hassan, Bahaa-Eddin. Literary Translation: Aspect of Pragmatic Meaning.
Cambridge:Cambridge University, 2011.
