TRANSLATION SOLUTIONS IN THE ANIMATED FILM “ELEMENTAL”: THE ENGLISH-UKRAINIAN DIRECTION

Abstract

Background. The growing popularity of animation genres and the necessity to create audiovisual translations have resulted in an increased focus on the assessment of the quality of the animated world and the efficacy of the strategies and tactics employed in conveying the lexical, semantic and cultural aspects of the source text. The animated film “Elemental”, released in 2023, provides a compelling illustration of the challenges translators may encounter when confronted with a substantial array of cultural elements and intriguing lexical and semantic units. These elements demand meticulous analysis and the formulation of innovative solutions to ensure their accurate and effective reproduction in Ukrainian. 

Methods. In light of the particularities of the selected topic, the research employed a comparative and lexical-semantic analysis of film texts, in addition to a functional analysis of the English-Ukrainian translation. This approach was utilized in the examination of the English-Ukrainian materials of the animated film ‘Elemental’. The pragmatic aspects of the translation were evaluated, and the modifications implemented by the translator in the target version to ensure equivalence to the original and facilitate the target audience's comprehension were identified.

Results. This article is dedicated to an examination of the translation techniques employed in the adaptation of the audiovisual content of the animated film “Elemental”. A number of dominant world-forming features of the animated world were considered, among which the most striking are puns based on real-life things, the use of idioms related to the elements, metaphorical use of everyday lexical items and polysemy. It has been established that the predominant approach among translators of “Elemental” was the exploitation of semantic adaptation, with the objective of accurately reproducing the meanings and contextual nuances inherent in the original text in the target language. This was most frequently observed in instances involving character names, elements intrinsic to the source culture, puns, and allusions. The loss of the original text in the translated material is most often related to the visual component of the film text, which is not always subject to translation or subtitling in the target culture. This may include various inscriptions, names of shops or street signs, product brands, and so forth.

Conclusions. It can be stated that the Ukrainian translation of the animated film “Elemental” not only conveys the atmosphere of the original work in a qualitative manner by processing visual and lexical elements, but also, through the professional use of polysemy inherent in words, conveys the context of the world in which the events take place in the speech of the characters. The qualitative work with the leading stylistic elements of the original work (both lexical and audiovisual) enabled not only an adequate translation of the peculiarities of the fantasy world of The Elements into the Ukrainian environment, but also the preservation and enhancement of the emotional and semantic load of the text through adaptation and compensation.

Keywords: English-Ukrainian translation, audiovisual translation, literary translation, translation analysis, pun, idiom, adaptation