A STUDY OF TRANSLATION TRANSFORMATIONS AND FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENCE IN FANTASY LITERATURE

Abstract

The translation of fantasy literature presents a number of linguistic and cultural challenges due to the representation of culture-specific elements, author-created names, mythological references, and stylistically colored language units. The object of this paper is a classic work of fantasy fiction, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings provides extensive material for investigating translation strategies and transformations. The study focuses on that the translator’s style to use lexical and grammatical transformations in translation of The Lord of the Rings considering functional equivalence. For analyzing corresponding elements of the source and target texts, comparative, descriptive, and contextual methods are applied. Transcription, transliteration, calque, modulation, concretization, generalization, transposition, and grammatical substitution are among the most frequently employed transformations. Through these transformations, the translator preserves semantic, stylistic, and cultural aspects of the original text, ensuring a high degree of functional equivalence. The study confirms that translation transformations function as essential tools for reproducing the communicative and aesthetic impact of fantasy narratives in the target language.