Techniques for translating a documentary into Russian and stylistic errors made during translation: the case of the “24 Snows” film

Abstract

This article presents a linguistic analysis of the translation techniques used to translate a documentary film from Yakut into Russian, and classifies the stylistic errors made during the translation process. The documentary film “24 Snows” (2015, directed by M. B. Barynin) serves as the research material. The aim of the study was to identify, systematize, and analyze key translation strategies and typical stylistic errors that arise when translating the documentary from Yakut into Russian (using the film “24 Snows”). The theoretical basis of the study was formed by fundamental works on translation studies by N.K. Garbovsky, Y. I. Recker, V.S. Modestov, and other scholars, who laid the foundations for the classification of translation techniques and the analysis of translation errors. The primary method of analysis was comparative; empirical research methods such as comparison, classification, and generalization were used as auxiliary ones. The analysis utilized contextual analysis, descriptive-analytical methods, and semantic analysis techniques. A structured interview with the film’s director was used to reconstruct the context of the translation work. The study identified and systematized the following techniques for translating the original documentary text from Yakut into Russian: transcription, transliteration, adaptation, calque, and generalization. Furthermore, typical translator errors were discovered: omitted words, distorted meaning, as well as grammatical, syntactic, and logical errors.