The term “concept” is at the crux of the matter when scrutinizing the ways the nucleus NATURE concept can be represented in the English translation of modern Ukrainian prose through the prism of lingua-cultural studies. The “concept” is a multifaceted term that embodies the cultural layers by projecting the values of the people with their history, language, cultural heritage, and worldview. The concept straddles linguistic, cultural, philosophical, literary, and psychological doctrine.
In the light of translation studies, the concept is a guide to another culture which allows you to delineate the unique features and some distinctive points of the author’s original text and thereby accustom them to the reader’s everyday routine. Through the concept study and that of the conceptual world picture, the translator channels his/her thoughts, reasoning, and cultural markers to his/her own language which is a foundation for intercultural communication and a building block for the extra-linguistic factors of translation studies.
The concept interpretation is one of the current hot topics in the realm of translation studies because the accentuation of a specified concept in the vortex of cultural studies has proven to be an integral part of the literary analysis and the way it is rendered in the translation. In order to grasp a better understanding of how to use, systemize and articulate the concepts, one has to define its structure, category and typology. Due to that knowledge, the researchers can conduct an in-depth analysis of the used lexical units and the methods of applying those components in the translated text.
In our paper we focus on the nucleus NATURE concept, because the works of Taras Prokhasko, Kostiantyn Moskalets and Maria Matios brim over with natural elements and natural phenomena. Moreover, the NATURE concept runs skin-deep and is an archetype which is intrinsic in human consciousness. The NATURE concept has a multi-branched component structure that encompasses conceptual features and finds its way into translation.
We explore the way the dialect features in the translated texts as a cultural ingredient. The dialect as a cultural component imbues the works of selected modern Ukrainian authors with local colour and enriches the author’s figurative intentions through the usage of certain linguistic twists which pose a real challenge for the translator to render in the translated text. We relate the dialect to linguaculturology, because it showcases the way people speak in that region and is native to our writers. The dialect enables readers to experience something new when reading about everyday chores, clothing, and traditional dishes of the Ukrainian western region. In some way the dialect gives a tour of the local history.
It is worth noting that the translator’s decision to use certain methods is motivated by such factors as the spread of the Ukrainian literature around the world. The economy gears up such an idea of importing the modern Ukrainian cultural capital: the publishers’ craving for a product that is both commercially successful and attractive to English-speaking readers. In addition to that, it should be viable to compete with literature from other countries and occupy its niche in the market of translated literature.
These motivational pushes are modeled by certain factors that influence the reception of the literary piece as an aesthetic product by target consumers: namely, with the focus on the mass reader. The translation must meet the receptive demands of modern global English readers, i.e., be conventional, easy-to-read, and have a fresh feel not only in terms of the plot but also in terms of the language. That is to say, it should contain both the elements of foreignization and domestication in such proportions as to suit the aesthetic tastes and expectations of the target reader.
The selected material should adjust to the modern readers’ demands where translation decisions are a set of conscious choices of the techniques and strategies (translation methods), such as domestication or foreignization for the targeted English-speaking audience. Such are the central points of the successful reception: readability, harmony of the work at different reading levels and attractive cover of the final product.
