Searching for Equivalence in Indirect Literary Translation: A Case Study of Translations of the Kazakh Novels “Aq boz Yui” by S. Yelubay and “The Man-deer” by O. Bokeev

Abstract

Abstract Kazakh national literature considered as peripheral and featured by bilingualism is not widely presented in target languages. Soviet canons of translation had made a great impact on the whole process of literary translation development in Kazakhstan, realized predominantly through a mediating language. With the issue of translation of Kazakh national literature comes the aspect of cultural terms in translation. The aim of this article is to consider the problem of translation of specific culture-related words in terms of equivalence, while the translation involves interlinear text. The method of the study was analysis. A comparative analysis of the source and target texts allows us to conclude the Kazakh language is characterized by separate lexemes for indicating various signs of the same phenomenon, state, and object; more often they are hyponyms, while English is specified by use of hypernyms. The practical significance of this article is determined by the fact that the research contributes to the development of problems of indirect translation. This issue requires fundamental study, and this study is a small part of that endeavor.