This thesis highlights the political lexis in terms of theory and practice of translation. The first chapter gives an insight into the translation studies of political lexis and the theoretical aspects of such concepts as POLITICS/POLITICIAN, "political", "political discourse", "political text", "political lexis", "political neologism". As an object of translation political lexis consists of political terms, political realia and political symbols. In terms of neology it can be subdivided into political neologisms and political occasional coinages. The second chapter provides functional, structural, and lexico-semantic analysis of the nuclear, peripheral and marginal political text types in the American and Ukrainian linguistic and cultural traditions. It articulates functional differences for diverse groups of political lexis in different political text-types and correlation between the lexical elements of a political text and ways of their translation. Any political text-type (nuclear, peripheral and marginal) predetermines specific tasks of its lexis' translation. For nuclear political texts, it is obligatory to maintain the political and terminological criteria of translation. For translation of marginal political texts, the symbolical and neological criteria are viewed as a basic requirement. In different linguistic and cultural traditions the nuclear political text types are the most symmetrical. The greater difference is traced among the marginal political text types. Thus, the nuclear political text types predetermine the use of the strategies of reproduction, but the marginal political text types demand usage of creative strategies or even strategies of complete adaptation to the text models of a target language and culture. Strategies and tactics of adaptation may lead to the shift of political lexis status (political term - political realia - political symbol) and the shift of a political text type in translation (nuclear - peripheral -marginal). The third chapter solves problems in translating political lexis in political and non-political texts. The analysis of political lexis translations defines basic translation strategies and tactics, types of equivalents (full and partial equivalents, variant and occasional correspondences, analogues), lexico-semantic transformations (differentiation, generalization, modulation) and structural transpositions (addition, elimination, explication, sentence integration and partitioning, syntactical replacement). Key words: translation strategies and tactics, types of translational equivalents, types of translational transformations, types of translational transpositions, political text, political vocabulary, political term, political realia, political symbol, political neologism.
