MYTHOPOETIC AND POSTCOLONIAL DIMENSIONS IN THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF VIKTOR NEBORAK’S “THE FLYING HEAD”

Abstract

The paper explores the mythopoetic and postcolonial dimensions of Viktor Neborak’s poem “The Flying Head” through a comparative analysis of its English translations by Michael M. Naydan and Wanda Phipps and Virlana Tkacz. As one of the key representatives of the Bu-Ba-Bu literary group, V. Neborak constructs a distinctive poetic universe in which mythological archetypes, folklore and postmodern experimentation intersect with reflections on Ukrainian historical memory and postcolonial identity. The study examines how these culturally embedded meanings are reproduced in English and analyses the translators’ strategies for rendering symbolic imagery, intertextual references and nationally marked cultural codes. Particular attention is paid to the translation of cultural motifs and the representation of postcolonial discourse, which challenge translators to balance semantic accuracy with the preservation of the poem’s aesthetic complexity. The article argues that the translators adopt complementary translation approaches that maintain the polyphonic and experimental nature of V. Neborak’s poetry while making it accessible to Anglophone readers. Their translations preserve the poem’s mythopoetic structure and contribute to the international reception of contemporary Ukrainian literature by transmitting its cultural specificity and postcolonial perspective. The findings confirm that literary translation functions as an act of cultural mediation through which Ukrainian poetic discourse enters the global literary space without losing its symbolic and ideological depth. The comparative analysis demonstrates that differences in the translators’ interpretative choices reflect distinct approaches to reconstructing the poem’s mythopoetic imagery and postcolonial meanings while preserving its cultural specificity for the English-speaking readers.