Multicultural component and its linguistic representation in Langston Hughes’ poetry

Nowadays, the problem of the representation of multiculturalism in modern poetry needs special consideration. Our research is devoted to the investigation of the specific features of the multicultural component in the poetry of Langston Hughes. The main tasks of the paper are to investigate such notions, as «multiculturalism», «realia», «national identity» and «blues»; and to analyze the linguistic and cultural specificity of Hughes’ poetry. Multiculturalism is a term that came into usage after the idea of a “melting pot». Such scholars as Glazer, Hollinger, and Taylor have been investigating this term. Multicultutralism is the way in which different authors maintain their identity through their work while educating others on their cultural ideas. Multicultural literature is oriented around issues of race, ethnicity, gender, etc. Multicultural American literature of the 20th century resonates with the hopes and fears of the whole of American history and reflects the rich complexity and variety of the American experience. James Mercer Langston Hughes, an American writer who was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance and made the African American experience the subject of his works. His writings ranged from poetry and plays to novels and newspaper columns. We would like to pay special attention to Langston Hughes’ poetry. «The Negro Speaks of Rivers» was the first poem published in Langston Hughes’s long writing career. The poem first appeared in the magazine Crisis in June of 1921 and was subsequently published in Hughes’s first volume of poetry, The Weary Blues, in 1926, written when he was only 19. «The Negro Speaks of Rivers» as well as the rest of his works treats themes Hughes explored all his life: the experiences of African Americans in history, black identity and pride. Multiculturalism is connected with the notion of realia. It is a linguistic phenomenon, which refers to the culture-specific vocabulary. The works of such well-known scientists, as S. Vlahov, S. Florin, I. Kashkin, A. Fedorov have been central in the study of this issue. The key factor in defining any phenomenon as realia is national referring to the object of a certain country, nation, or social community. National identity is not an inborn trait. It is essentially socially constructed. A person's national identity results from the presence of elements from the «common points» in people's daily lives: national symbols, colors, nation's history, blood ties, and so on. We can find all these aspects (geographical realia, proper names, and many others) in the work of Langston Hughes. While analysing the poems of Langston Hughes we discover that his language is closely connected with the culture. Thus, the idea of multicultural writing is that racial and ethnic minority voices are a crucial element in United States literary history and culture

Dialogism of translation in comparative dimension. Review of Viktoriia Prykhodko's monograph «Reception and interpretation of literary text in foreign language discourse: comparative dimension» (Lutsk, 2019)

The relevance of the monograph is determined, first of all, by the fact that contemporary national literatures are increasingly interacting with each other through translation, and thus the need to consider translated works in comparison with the originals is increasing. Studying the features and patterns of the literary translation is an important area of modern comparative studies. The work focuses on ways of preserving the national and cultural component of the translated text. The works of M. Gogol, Lesia Ukrainka, I. Franko, F. Dostoievskyi, R. Kipling, and J. Conrad were analyzed according to this aspect. A comparative idea of a dialogue is proposed. It is noted that translation is a broad dialogic process between the author and the reader through the interpreter, which includes reception and interpretation. Literary translation is interpreted as the basis for establishing a dialogue between the text and the interpreter, as an expression of the meaning that flows through the prism of the translating consciousness and enriches it, as a co-creation of the writer and interpreter, the purpose of which is mutual understanding, and the result of this understanding is the text-translation. Attention is paid to the issue of intertextuality as a translation problem. Despite the understanding of intertextuality as the interaction between the texts by different authors (text in text) and the interrelation between different works of one author, the thesis proposes to expand the scope of interpretation of this term, adding to it also different interpretations of one work in the same language. In the monograph the problem of reception and interpretation of literary text is considered in the imagological aspect. In particular, the study of reception and interpretation of other national character in a foreign language discourse plays an important role. Foreign language reception and interpretation of laughter culture in general and «Gogol laughter» in particular are thoroughly investigated. A deep analysis of the works of M. Gogol and F. Dostoevsky made it possible to conclude that the carnival colour of Gogol's «pure, folk-festive» laughter and the parody and comic intonation of F. Dostoevsky during translation give rise to certain problems of preserving their identity. It is noted that the perception of colour in a literary work is a peculiar way of interpreting it, and the semantic nuances of colour markings in one language or another require the problem of the reception adequacy and the interpretation of colour when translating from language to language. The practical importance of the monograph is determined by the possibility of using its basic provisions and results as an additional source of information for further comprehension of the translational paradigm in the comparative dimension.

Stable word-combinations with a verbal component as the expressive means of subjective modality in german publicistic writing: the pragmatic aspect

The paper is devoted to the study of stable word-combinations with a verbal component, which are seen in the context as the expressive means of subjective modality. German online texts on political, social and sports topics were analyzed in this research. In this paper the functional approach is applied to the study of the above-mentioned linguistic phenomenon. It was proved that stable word-combinations with a verbal component indicate features of phraseological unities and phraseological combinations and are quite common in German publicistic texts. The word-combinations are identified differently: the expression of subjective modality as subjective modality has different markers, splitting into deontic (markers: necessary, possibly, accidently), epistemic (markers: proved, disproved, not resolved), aletic (markers: obligatory, prohibited, allowed), axiological (markers: good, bad, neutral). In the texts under consideration, stable word-combinations with a verbal component can be seen as lexical-syntactic units that enhance the expression of axiological modality as all analyzed examples have good, bad, and neutral markers in the context. Stable word-combinations with a verbal component are linguistic expressions of the force of figurative thinking (German Bildkraft), which has two components: visibility (German Bildhaftigkeit) and imagery / colourfulness (German Bildlichkeit). Visibility, to which stable word-combinations with a verbal component apply, is related to the direct meaning of all semantically relevant words and collocations. Therefore, the wider the semantic space of such words and collocations is, the higher degree of visibility and depth of meaning of such lexical and lexical-stylistic units can be observed, because each individual meaning element defines our understanding of the topic that is described, makes this description more detailed and complements our imagination. Stable word-combinations with a verbal component constitute a complementary element expressing subjective modality that reinforces the influence on the addressee. As the means of expressing subjective modality, these lexical-syntactic units can only be considered together with other lexical units in a context.

Verbal means of information and psychological warfare

The article focuses on linguistic and cognitive peculiarities of the information and psychological warfare and its manifestation in the Ukrainian and Russian languages with the help of innovative verbal means. The paper analyses Russia’s information campaign against Ukraine, covering the period from the Euromaidan (2014) until 2020. It is stated that Russia’s information campaign is to be analysed in the context of the strategic narrative of the Russian government, reflected in pro-Russian mass media. It has been revealed that Russia’s information campaign was related to Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. Russia has demonstrated that in the current and continually evolving information environment, power and control can be easily gained by manipulating information to influence societal perceptions, attitudes and behaviours. The Russian narrative includes several dominant themes: promoting the Russian World which unites the Eastern Slavs, implies that Russians and Ukrainians are one nation, and recognizes the natural supremacy of Russia; portraying Ukrainians as a pseudo-nation who are unable to administer their own country and sustain their statehood, and labelling the Euromaidan protesters as nationalists, Nazis and fascists posing a threat to the ethnically Russian part of the Ukraine’s population. Narratives are supported by utilising so-called thematic communication frames. The thematic frames are a way of associating a particular impression or opinion with an object or a subject. The characteristics of thematic frames are their close relationships within a particular context and interpretation. Thematic framing can be applied to an individual, to a group of people (the inhabitants of Western Ukraine are followers of Bandera and neo-Nazis), or to a process, event or particular place in time and space. The creation of thematic frames is related to the human desire to simplify the outside world and to easily distinguish friends from foes. Thematic framing can be used to manipulate audiences. It has been proved that the means of verbalization of the information and psychological warfare reflect the perception of reality in the light of a certain ideology and mentality. The conceptualization of conflicting parties takes place in terms of such eternal values as the Good and the Evil which is here based on the dichotomy ONE’S OWN / ALIEN (Ukraine / Russia), reflecting the opposition between western and eastern civilizations. The paper determines ontological features of the dichotomy ONE’S OWN / ALIEN, introduces its model, exposes semantic structure of the key lexemes that denote ONE’S OWN / ALIEN. The investigation of neologisms allows revealing the ways and means of languages enrichment. It also exposes the semantic properties of innovations and highlights the phenomenon of the war of linguistic signs which includes the war of form and the war of meaning.

Aethetic value of Rostislav Dotsenko’s literary translation

The article gives a brief outline of Rostislav Dotsenko’s translation activity focusing on the translator’s contribution into Ukrainian literary space of the second half of the twentieth century, highlights aesthetic value of his Ukrainian interpretations as well as defines the basic principles of the artist’s translation concepts.

Gender problems of translation of English language poetry in the paradigm of literary theory and the extra-linguistic aspect of translation studies (based on the poem 449 «I died for Beauty» by E. Dickinson)

The paper considers the poem 449 written by Emily Dickinson and its translations into Ukrainian and Russian. The translation of the grammatical syntactic syntagma «I died for Beauty…» is also analyzed. The work of V. Sdobnikov and O. Petrova «Theory of Translation» where the scholars propose to apply literary and extra-linguistic aspects of translation theory was especially important for the present research. The principles of literary and linguistic translation theory have been applied in the process of philological and linguistic-stylistic types of analysis. The literary studies theory emphasizes the principle of vocabulary adequacy in the original work and its translations. The extra-linguistic aspect of the linguistic translation theory has impelled us to consider the morphological category of gender of the personal pronoun «I» in singular and the verb «died» in the past tense. In modern (synchronous) English, the morphological category of gender of the personal pronoun in the first person and the verb in the past tense are not denoted by morphemes, whereas in the Ukrainian and Russian languages the verb in the past tense has the suffix «l» and the ending «а» for the feminine gender. That is why some translators have mistakenly interpreted the image of the poem's first persona by creating the image of a lyrical male character, which violated the gender right of the poetess. The translators were to take into account the biographical right of the poetess to write on her own behalf, and the fact that in most works E. Dickinson revealed her inner world in the first person and applied the personal pronoun «I» in her poems very often, which testifies to the femininity of her poetry. Russian translators M. Zenkevich and A. Kudrjavytsky translated the structure «I died for Beauty» by using the words of the lyrical woman-character. They recreated the image of a lyrical heroine who is capable to give her life for Beauty. Another translator V. Markova created the lyrical male character. In her translation both characters are opposed to each other, because the poet is «he» while the Beauty is «she». In Markova’s translation it is the man who died for beauty, love and truth. Ukrainian translators D. Pavlychko and N. Tuchynska also created the lyrical male character and interpreted the image from the first person that changed the original author’s artistic message. It should be noted that the method of character masculinization in the translation of grammatical syntactic syntagma has changed the main idea of the work. This violated the gender right of the poetess to create the image of a noble lyrical heroine who is able to give her life for Beauty. The article also focuses on the peculiarities of the syntax of the poem, the special meaning of dashes in the original text and its translations as well as the method of character onimization. The lexical adequacy of the poem under consideration and its translations into Ukrainian and Russian are analyzed.

Aesthetization of the christian ethical ideal in o. wilde's fairy tale «The Happy Prince»

The paper explores the problem of the relationship between the ideas of aesthetics and the Christian doctrine of active love in the famous tale written by O. Wilde. The research which emphasizes the Christian basis of the author's outlook became the methodological basis of the present study on the background of a detailed analysis of various assessments of the writer's position, interpreted as an immoral aesthete and as a supporter of socialist ideas or a recipient of ideas of ancient philosophy of spiritual beauty. The study proves this in detail, analyzing the plot and figurative solutions of the fairy tale «Happy Prince», taking into account the traditional Christian symbols. Thus, the image of the Prince-Statue, decorated with gold and precious stones, is interpreted as a symbol of Christ, who gives his splendor and power to save the poor. It is also reminiscent of the words of Christ, who tells a young rich man who seeks perfection to sell his wealth and give money to the poor. The very values of the earthly world, gold and precious stones, luxurious things made of them, are transparently interpreted in an ironically reduced tone. The confirmation of the fact that the aestheticization of being yields to the hidden spiritual greatness of Christian love and self-sacrifice is also that that the values of the earthly world, gold and precious stones are transparently interpreted in an ironic tone in the fairy tale. The swallow, being the ancient symbol of the Renaissance, this bird was lured by the perishable beauty of idols and tombs of Egypt, the biblical symbol of captivity. The swallow finds its purpose in the service of the Prince, scattering his precious clothes to the poor. And here the ethical criterion turns out to be higher than the aesthetic one. They are not rewarded on the Earth: the bird dies of the cold, and the remains of an unpresentable statue of the prince are demolished, the decisive word to belong to the professor of aesthetics. However, the angel of God brings the most precious things he has found in this city to the heavenly palaces of the Lord: the tin heart of the Prince, torn by grief, and a dead bird. By analyzing the writer's ideological system with implicit implications, Wilde's position is quite obvious: despite his apparent admiration for the aesthetics of beauty, the writer rejects ultimately the doctrine of aesthetics and exalts Christian values, setting out his concept in the style of a parable.

Lexical means of realization of emotions of medial man (case study of the epic poem «Kudrun»)

The article deals with the peculiarities of objectification of the emotions of a medial man in the German heroic epos. The medial man is known to have focused on dual reality, including objective and imaginary. Objective reality includes feudalism, serfdom, colonial policy, internecine wars, the dominance of the church, the struggle between the papacy and the empire, the Crusades in the Middle East, the forcible Christianization of Slavic tribes, social differentiation of the people in the rich and poor, the establishment of towns, the organization of external trade, weak domestic and external policy, etc., the imaginary reality receives a mythopoetic interpretation. Comparing himself with both worlds, a man measures them through his body, activity, space, physical strength, operating on the mythological-religious type of consciousness. Against this background, human emotions are the result of a combination of sociological, religious, economic, political, psychological and cultural factors. The mechanism of their transition is metaphor and metonymy. Three categories of emotions were identified: negative, positive, indefinite. Negative emotions are identical to grief, resentment, hostility, emotional pain, emotional suffering, fear, doubt, anger, positive emotions are equivalent to joy, happiness, satisfaction, pride, affection, surprise, gratitude, love, interest, indefinite emotions are presented through negators, deny hatred, happiness, soul, loneliness, guilt, sadness, anger, disfavor. The activators of these emotions are evolution and attribution. The intensity of emotions is determined by the specifics of upbringing, origin, age, gender, individual psychological properties of the individual (type of temperament), subject / communicative situation. It was found that the lexical means of realization of the lion’s share of emotions appeal to the word, proper name, nickname, and phrase. The emotion of interest can be expressed by an interrogative sentence with or without a question word. On a lexical and grammatical basis, a word is relevant to a noun, adjective, adverb, verb, exclamation, on the structure – these are root and derivative elements. It has been found that the names of emotions of happiness, joy, resentment, grief, contentment, pride, surprise, love, shyness, anger, heartache and indefinite emotions are binary phrases, emotions of cruelty, anger, evil – ternary, respectively.

On temporal and spatialconceptualization in typologically distant languages

The article «On Temporaland Spatial Conceptualization in Typologically Distant Languages» continues the series on working by Olena Taukchi. It explores the process of the world conceptualization and internal reflective experience in English, Ukrainian and Russian; analyzes the dependence of conceptualization on various factors: society`s ethno-consciousness, culture and subculture, as well as individual consciousness. Time is a phenomenon that is directly related to people, seemingly understandable, but in fact, controversial and difficult to explicate. Can you describe time? And if so, what does it look like interms of modern linguistics? Our vision of time implies a perspective that cannot be set in objectivity. For example, if time goes horizontally or vertically; if the time arrow directed forward or backward, right or left, up or down; if time is going past us, or are we moving through it? We do not associate those aspects with our knowledge of the objective world, but, be that as it may, we learn about it through language, most of tenth rough spatial metaphors. Observations of this kind enable us to say that linguistic data can be used as a key to understanding and interpreting any culturally significant aspects of objective reality. From our perspective, it is linguistic analysis of lexical units denoting time that appropriately complements the over all picture of research. In the minds of people speaking various languages, time has a single model and is described in the same terms.

Style syncretism of the beginning of the XX century: the novel “I Haven’t Seen Flowers” by Denys Lukiyanovych

In the article the short story “I haven’t seen flowers” (1904) written by Denys Lukiyanovych (1873–1965) and published only in the edition of the “Literaturno-Naukovyi Visnyk” is analyzed. It is stated that the novel is closely included in the thematic, genre-stylistic paradigm of modernism of the beginning of the twentieth century, has the main stylistic features of the analyzed period, in particular the poetics of impressionism and expressionism, sometimes naturalism. The figurative system, genre features and motives of the work are studied. The following characteristic features of the poetics of impressionism are revealed: visual and auditory perception, the presence of a lyrical hero, focusing on the innerworld of the character, leveling the significance of the dynamics of the plot. The use of images inherent in impressionism works, such as death (fluidity of time), city (mechanical life), flowers (eternity in beauty), etc. is evaluated. Attention is paid to the reception of the use of characters and replicas of characters in an epic work. The trinity “author-narrator-lyrical hero”, formed on the basis of the merger of these images, is analyzed. The use of artistic contrast in the depiction of the experience of lyrical hero is evaluated. An attempt is made to demonstrate the fragmentary, allusiveness and unprovability of writing in herentin the Impressionist style. The article also focuses on the expression of the worldview of the heroes through the prism of personal and social problems. The cult of suffering of the main character as such, which is obvious in every earthly life, is analyzed. By leveling the significance of “temporary” values, the author shows that human life is only a temporary phenomenon, on of the intermediate links of existence. Because of such interpretation of this stylistic trend, another trinity is offered, that one can notice in the work, “author-hero-reader”, because it is the latter who has to “conduct” all these “expressions” through himself. It is noted that the manifestation of naturalistic details further exaggerate the concept of death and suffering. They vividly convey the physical and emotional state of the hero, who is struggling to survive as an earthly being, but still strives for eternity. The novel is compared with other texts similar in style and written in one temporal and cultural dimension. The features of literary “value" in comparison with other works of the mentioned epoch are clarified. The conclusion about the application of stylistic syncretism at the turn of the century is made.