THE INVESTIGATION OF LEXICAL-SEMANTIC FEATURES IN THE ENGLISH-UKRAINIAN AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION (ON THE BASIS OF THE MOVIE “JOKER”)

Abstract

The study focuses on the analysis of lexical-semantic and stylistic transformations in English-Ukrainian audiovisual translation, particularly, the American psychological thriller “Joker” (2019) directed and produced by Todd Phillips, who also participated in the writing of the film script with Scott Silver. Ukrainian translation was carried out by one of the largest film studios in Ukraine which is specialized in post-production – Postmodern Postproduction. This article presents the definition of audiovisual translation and its most common models – dubbing and subtitling, but there is another model of translation – voice-over translation. In addition, an important topic for understanding the entire complexity of audiovisual translation is not omitted – the process of dubbing – especially the routine followed by Western European dubbing teams. The main methods of translation are highlighted: word-for-word (also known as literal or direct) translation, adaptation, calque, omission, substitution (replacement), transposition, compensation, borrowing, paraphrasing, converse translation and translation of idioms, which were used in the material (original film script and its Ukrainian dubbed version). The obtained results reinforce the positive tendency of Ukrainian movie translation in relation to reproduction of the source text and its adaptation to the target audience. After comparing the dubbing of the 2000s movies and the dubbing of the 2020s movies, it is convinced that today this phenomenon has improved to an incredible height, translators use “live” words, otherwise, words used by Ukrainians in everyday life. These words make language richer and more colorful, sometimes they sound quite funny, which is only a “plus” for a movie. Previously, word-for-word translation was preferred, but the usage of it meant that idioms and other stylistic figures were given an incorrect meaning and, as a result, the context was lost. Today this method of translation is set to a minimum. As a result, viewers are more likely to go to the cinema because they know that the translation will not sound unpleasant.