Stylistic challenges in translating Stephen King’s the Shining

Альошина, Марина Дмитрівна (2025) Stylistic challenges in translating Stephen King’s the Shining Науковий вісник Херсонського державного університету (1). ISSN 2663-3434

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Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of stylistic challenges in translation of Stephen King's novel The Shining into Ukrainian. The study examines the author's individual style, particularly his ability to create an atmosphere of horror and tension through the use of colloquial language, slang, fragmented syntax, incomplete sentences, and specific stylistic tools. The paper analyzes the difficulties in preserving these features in the target language and studies the effectiveness of the used strategies and techniques. The consideration of style in translation is based on the differentiation between primary (explicit) and secondary (implicit) meanings, which shape the semantic and emotional components of the text. Special attention is paid to the issues of cultural adaptation, particularly the rendering dialectal, idiomatic, and metaphorical expressions. A comparative analysis of English original and Ukrainian translation has been conducted, which allowed to identify main translation strategies: domestication, compensation, calque, and adaptation. It has been revealed that the balance between maintaining the author's style and ensuring the text's accessibility for the target audience is achieved through a moderate use of formal equivalents and the introduction of culturally relevant analogs. The analysis of both the original and the translation demonstrated that the translator occasionally uses intensification or neutralization of the original's tone, particularly in reproducing vulgarisms, expressive vocabulary, and character speech. The paper addresses to the problem of preserving emotional impact of the text on the reader: King creates a sense of psychological tension through lexical repetitions, contractions, and unconventional word order, which are often difficult to convey in another language without compromising stylistic coherence. The use of functionalist approach allows to conclude that translation of the novel cannot be literal, as effective rendering of fear and anxiety depends not only on content but also on sentence structure and text rhythm. Thus, the study emphasizes the importance of an interdisciplinary approach that combines cognitive stylistics, translation analysis, and linguocultural studies.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	style; Stephen King; adaptation; narration; vernacular; lowered lexicon; dialect
Subjects:	Статті у базах даних > Index Copernicus
Divisions:	Факультет романо-германської філології > Кафедра лінгвістики та перекладу
Depositing User:	Марина Дмитрівна Альошина
Date Deposited:	23 Jul 2025 07:06
Last Modified:	23 Jul 2025 07:06
URI:	https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/52665

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