Cross‐cultural communication – lost in translation: A corpus study (based on the material from the Russian‐Polish corpus)

Abstract

The article is devoted to cross-cultural communication and its implementation in Polish translations of Russian fiction. Nowadays, both the study of national specifics relating to the worldviews of speakers of different languages, and the analysis of the way those worldviews are reflected in translation, are becoming more relevant. This article aims to study the properties of cross-cultural dialogue, which is mirrored in parallel fictional texts. The research material came from the Russian-Polish corpus. The analysis indicates that nationally specific features can manifest themselves on different levels of the language system – in vocabulary, phraseology, word formation, morphology, and syntax. The translation of sentences which include units representative of the Russian linguistic worldview demonstrates both cross-cultural successes and failures (omission of elements symbolic of Russian culture, their inaccurate interpretation or replacement with items typical of the Polish worldview). The existing printed and electronic dictionaries, as well as online translators, do not fully meet current requirements, including those related to conveying Russian cultural and linguistic senses by means of the Polish language. The practice of translating literary works from Russian into Polish demonstrates the need for further investigation of the worldviews of both nations.