A translation of Liudmila Ulitskaia's 'Sonechka' with a discussion of its content and of the difficulties of its translation

Abstract

This thesis consists of a translation of a piece of contemporary Russian women's prose. Liudmila Ulitskaia's 'Soncchka', and a discussion of the preliminary work undertaken in preparation for the translation. The story is introduced by means of a literary analysis, with much of the discussion based on women's roles in the story. This is followed by an examination of the main problems which have concerned translation theorists over the past half-century and of the changing trends in translation theory. A brief discussion of Russian translation theory is included in order to highlight to what extent it differs from the Western theories,the position taken in this those is that those theories which are based on the practice of translation and are actually practicable are of more value to the translator than those which are highly theoretical. Emphasis is placed on the importance of style in translation. The approach taken in the translation with regard to source-text and target-text orientation is described, and the stylistic features of the story are analysed. A detailed analysis of the difficulties and problems faced in the translation of the text follows, with reference to die section on translation theory, and solutions to the problems are given with extensive examples from the text. The translation itself ends the thesis and is considered lo be the conclusion to all the preceding material. The original Russian text is included as an appendix.