Stylistic interpretation of verbs of speech action in the translation of a fantastic narration

The focus of the study is the variation of lexemes replacing English verbs introducing direct speech when translating a fantasy narrative into Russian. Interpretation of reporting verbs in translation involves a number of semantic and stylistic difficulties. In many Russian translations of works show a significant variety of lexical means, while in the original English texts only a few basic lexemes (say, ask, cry, answer) are often used as the main verbs of speech. Such changes reflect the translators’ orientation towards a particular stylistic system. In the case of domestication strategy the predominant attitude is to eliminate tautological repetitions (he says, she says - он интересуется ‘he is interested’, она кивает ‘she nods’). In the case of foreignization strategy the desire to stick to the same units in the translation as in the original, even if it contradicts the accepted stylistic canon (he says, she says - он говорит ‘he says’, она говорит ‘she says’). The experimental novel by Roger Zelazny “The Creatures of Light and Darkness” (1969) and its three translations into Russian were chosen as illustrative material. The comparative semantic-syntactic analysis of these texts, as well as quantitative data, allowed us to analyse the substitutions of reporting verbs and to draw conclusions about the prevailing strategy of translators. The results of the study make it possible to identify formal differences between the translations, as well as to demonstrate possible differences in the reader’s perception of the texts.