APPROACHES TO TRANSLATING POETICAL PROSE

Alexander Yemets
Khmelnytsky National University

Abstract
Literary translation involves translating prose, poetry, and drama. Poetical prose is
a special type of prose which is associated with emotions, images, romantic narratives.
Prose can be called poetical from the linguistic point of view if several devices of the
text organization are used: extended metaphors, intertextual allusions, text
paradigmatization (W. Schmid). In this paper the emphasis is made on another device of
prose poeticalness – stylistic convergence. It can be considered the most foregrounded
device as convergence involves the combination of different stylistic devices. Such
concentration creates difficulties in translation.
This paper concentrates on determining the ways of rendering stylistic
convergence as a device of poeticalness in the short stories of such famous British and
American writers as O. Wilde, K. Chopin, D. Thomas, as well as in modern flash fiction
stories. The conclusions are made concerning the structure of convergences, and the
Ukrainian translations of the fragments of poetical prose are suggested. The most
efficient translation strategies of rendering metaphors and alliteration (in classical
prose) and oxymoronic phrases and play of words (in flash fiction) are formulated. The
prospects of research of poetical prose translation are suggested.
Key words: poeticalness, poetical prose, device of poeticalness, stylistic
convergence, translation.
Introduction
Translation of literary texts, or literary translation, is known to include translation
of poetry, translation of prose, and translation of drama. As distinct from texts of other
styles, literary texts are characterized by peculiar features. Such features involve
different types of foregrounding (parallelism, neologisms, metaphors), rhythm,
emotional character of narration. Theo Hermans (2007: 79) singles out such
peculiarities of literary text as foregrounding of language, the interdependence of
different levels of linguistic organization, the perception of texts as both aesthetic
objects and intertextual or self-reflexive constructs. The majority of linguists
(R. Jakobson, J. Slavinsky, T. Hermans) agree that in literary texts the focus is on the
message, not on the content. Klaudia Bednarova-Gibova justly states that “the most
important feature of a literary work of art is that it is a bearer of an aesthetic function”
(2012: 29)
The dominance of aesthetic function in prose and poetry poses a question about
the similarities and differences between these two genres. The opposition of these two
forms of verbal art is not absolute; the development of these genres involves their
interconnection and mutual influence. As Yury Tynyanov states, the introduction of
prose principles into poems and the introduction of poetical principles into prose
enriches prose and poetry with a new sense (1977: 55). Thus, poetry and prose have
peculiar intermediate forms.
 One of such forms is poetical prose (or poetry in prose). The word “poetical” in
relation to prose texts has actually become a catchword. At the same time, poeticalness
is one of the major notions of poetics. Roman Jakobson (1964: 350) regarded poetics as
an integral part of linguistics. His definition of poetics proceeds from the role of the
poetic function – poetics is defined as that part of linguistics which treats poetic
function in its relationship to other functions of language (1964: 359). Thus, the
dominance of poetic function in the literary text can be a sign of poetical text.
The aim of this paper is to determine the features of poeticalness in prose texts
and to reveal the strategies and techniques of translating poetical prose. The principles
of research consisted in choosing the most foregrounded text fragments of the classical
texts by the British and American writers (O. Wilde, K. Chopin, D.  Thomas) as well as
the contemporary flash fiction stories. The selected short stories (fairy tales) have been
translated by the well-known Ukrainian translators. The novelty of this investigation
lies in the fact that there has not been detailed analysis of poetical prose in the British
and American literature, to say nothing of the devices of translating poetical prose.
Prose poeticalness
From linguistic point of view the problem of prose poeticalness was investigated
by the German Scholar Wolf Schmid. He defined prose poeticalness as the introduction
of poetical features into a prose with the help of three main devices of text organization,
such as: a) the introduction of mythical thinking into the text and the extension of
tropes; b) the text paradigmatization; c) the use of intertextual allusions (Schmid 1987:
210-214). Mythical, or as it is traditionally called – mythological thinking is realized by
means of tropes, in particular anthropomorphic metaphors. The paradigmatization of a
literary text involves the creation of the network of similarities (parallelism) or
oppositions (antithesis), which is so typical for poetical texts. The use of intertextual
allusions, especially systematic, makes a text polysemantic. At the same time, the two
devices – the introduction of mythological thinking and the use of intertextual allusions
– often overlap and even coincide, if the author refers to the Greek, Roman or Celtic
mythology, to the Biblical stories to fairy tales. The example can be “The Martian
Chronicles” by Ray Bradbury.
My investigation of the short stories by the British poet and prose writer Dylan
Thomas and the American writer Kate Chopin resulted in the formulation of other
devices of prose poeticalness. In the monograph (2012) I suggested that the most
foregrounded device of poeticalness is stylistic convergence. According to Michael
Riffaterre (1967), stylistic convergence means the accumulation of different stylistic
devices which add expressiveness to each other. On the one hand, convergence is an
important trigger (signal) of pragmatically oriented information. On the other hand, it is
generally recognized that the fragments with stylistic convergence are not easy to
reproduce in the target text (TT), as the translator should take into account phonetical,
tropeic, syntactical expressive means.
Stylistic convergences are characteristic of short stories by V. Wolfe, D. Thomas,
the fairy tales by O. Wilde and of the prose texts of such modern writers as John
Updike, Ray Bradbury.
 Phonetic stylistic devices can be a component of stylistic convergence, but more
frequently in poetry. The use of rhythm in prose can also create poeticalness, especially
due to parallel constructions. Poeticalness can be emphasized when the author includes
poems in his/her prose texts, as in the stories by D. Thomas, R. Bradbury.
Prose poeticalness as the principle of literary text organization involves the
foregrounding of some devices (dominant elements) and the deformation of others
(Tynyanov 1977: 277). As a whole, poetical prose is such prose where some devices of
poeticalness are realized. Naturally, if the story is long, only some fragments can be
pieces of poetical prose.
A very expressive example of interaction of several devices of poeticalness is the
paragraph from the story “The Visitor” by Dylan Thomas:
The candles must not be blown out, he thought. There must be light, light, light.
All day and all night the three candles, like three girls, must flush over my bed. These
three girls must shelter me.
First of all, the extended metaphor candles-girls reveals the introduction of
mythological thinking, but the mythology of modern times. The anthropomorphic
metaphor used here represents the metaphoric paradigm of the XX th century.
Alliteration as a most typical phonetic stylistic device is used in this fragment 13 times
in semantically important words light, girls, candles, blush. The phonetic organization
of the paragraph creates semantic unity and, at the same time, helps to express the idea
of light as something very important and spiritual. The major device of prose
poeticalness realized here is stylistic convergence which foregrounds the passage and
creates a considerable emotional effect.
The contemporary Russian linguist Gregory Solganik suggests the term “prose
stanza” (2007: 77). The term “stanza” is borrowed from poetics where it signifies a
group of verses which constitute metrical, semantic and syntactical unity, a verse
paragraph. Correspondingly, the fragments with close semantic and structural unity of
sentences in prose texts can be called prose stanzas.
For the investigation of poetical prose texts from the point of view of their
translation I chose one fairy tale “The Star-Child” by Oscar Wilde, two short stories by
Kate Chopin “The Night Came Slowly” and “A Harbinger”, two short stories “The
Dress” and “A Story” by Dylan Thomas, the texts by modern writers written after the
year 2000 – “Oliver’s Evolution” by John Updike, “My Date with Neanderthal Woman”
by David Galef, “Bullhead” by Leigh Wilson. Certainly, such choice was caused by the
retrospective reading and analysis of the texts of these authors.
The investigation revealed that the major device of poeticalness in these stories is
stylistic convergence. In classical texts (O. Wilde, D. Thomas) convergences spread to
several prose stanzas, while in modern fiction only one paragraph, usually a final
paragraph, contained stylistic convergence. Text paradigmatization as a device of prose
poeticalness was not so foregrounded, but it played an important role in the fairy tale
“The Star-Child” by O. Wilde, in the stories “The Night Came Slowly” by K. Chopin
and “My Date with Neanderthal Woman” by David Galef.
Stages of investigation
 Until the present moment, no comprehensive investigations on rendering
poeticalness of prose in translation have been made. Though different aspects of
translating original metaphors, including extended metaphors, have been deeply
analyzed and formulated (Newmark: 1988). The translation of stylistically colored
lexical units has received much attention. At the same time, each device of prose
poeticalness is a complex phenomenon and requires systematic analysis for translation.
I tried to elaborate the methodology of translating poetical prose, step by step.
The first stage involves determining the device(s) of prose poeticalness in the
given text. As it was previously mentioned, only some (or one) devices can be
foregrounded. The second stage consists in characterizing the language units which are
used to create the poeticalness effect. The third stage involves choosing the necessary
techniques for translating the language units of poeticalness (metaphors, hyperboles,
epithets, sound repetitions, etc.). The fourth stage is translation proper, when we
render the language units in the target text; it could be even literal translation. And the
fifth stage presupposes editing the translated fragments taking into account the
interconnection and interdependence of the language units which create poeticalness.
One of the best stories by Dylan Thomas “The Dress” is an example of poetical
prose. The introductory prose stanza contains stylistic convergence. Here convergence
involves extended metaphors and the repetition of phonetic stylistic devices. Here I give
two sentences from the paragraph which constitute the core of the convergence: But the
mist was a mother to him, putting a coat around his shoulders […]. The mist made him
warm; he had the food and the drink of the mist on his lips; and he smiled through her
mantle like a cat. The extended anthropomorphic metaphor mist-mother unites two
semantically distant notions – a natural phenomenon (mist) and a human being
(mother). From the context it is clear that the main character is running, wanting to hide
from the people who are following him. He is afraid, and when the mist comes from the
sky and hides him from the followers, the man feels relieved. That is why the mist
seems a mother to him, the mist protects him. In the two sentences an important role
belongs to initial alliteration – anaphora, which is repeated in semantically important
words 10 times. All in all, in the introductory prose stanza the dominant sound [m] is
repeated 29 times. It is characteristic of not only Dylan Thomas, but other prose writers
(O. Wilde) because the choice of lexical units for the components of the metaphor, the
tenor and the vehicle, is connected with their sound similarity. The repetition of the
sounds in the key words creates semantic unity. As Roman Jakobson noted, in poetry
similarity in sound form leads to similarity in meaning (1964: 372).
Thus, the translation of metaphors should be done as exactly as possible.
According to Peter Newmark, one of the basic techniques in rendering original
metaphors is reproducing the same image in the target language (TL) (1988: 306-307).
During our literary translation classes my senior students translated the first sentence
literally: Туман був для нього матір’ю […]. Some student preferred to translate the
metaphoric phrase by simile; which does not contradict to the writer’s idea and the
principles of translation: Туман був для нього як матір (like mother). The sound effect
seems to be reproduced. However, in the target language (Ukrainian) the word туман is
of the masculine gender, which contradicts the logic and the metaphoric sense. It is
conceptually important to choose the word of the feminine gender for the vehicle (or
object) of the metaphor (mother – матір). The leitmotif of the story as well as the title
reflect the dream of the main character’s meeting with a young woman who will protect
and help him. It is necessary to note that in the Russian translation made by famous
professional the gender aspect of translation was ignored. Fortunately, in the Ukrainian
translation the appropriate word synonymous to туман was found – it is імла which
completely corresponds to the lexical and grammatical aspects of the extended
metaphor.
The second sentence of the core metaphor could be translated with certain
translations, in particular modulation and grammatical substitution: Імла зігріла його,
нагодувала і напоїла, і він посміхнувся крізь її мантію, як кошеня. Of course, there
are fewer words with alliteration in the target text compared with the source text, but the
sound effect was partially retained in three words – імла, посміхнувся, мантія.
Literary translation is such type of activity which involves the translator’s
creativity. Daryna Radiyenko, a famous Ukrainian translator of Oscar Wilde’s fairy
tales, revealed her talent and creativity in rendering stylistic convergences in the story
“The Star-Child”. Like other fairy tales by Wilde, this text is a brilliant example of
poetical prose. There are several convergences in this fairy tale, in particular in the
introductory prose stanzas (the first page) and later, in the description of the main
character: So the Star-Child was white and delicate as sawn ivory, and his curls were
like the rings of the daffodil. His lips, also, were like the petals of a red flower, and his
eyes were like violets by a river of pure water and his body like the narcissus of a field
where the mover comes not (Wilde 2009: 230).
Similar to the stylistic convergence in the story by Thomas, here convergence as a
device of poeticalness includes several tropes, basically five similes which constitute an
extended biomorphic metaphor BOY IS A FLOWER. Here similes also interact with
alliterations, the sound [I] is repeated as epiphora in 12 words. Another element of
stylistic convergences is realized in this prose stanza in 4 sentences – parallelism: his
curls were like …; his eyes were like … . Parallelism creates semantic equivalence of
sentences, but it also plays an important rhythmic role.
In this fairy tale we can speak about tropeic-phonetic-syntactical convergence, or
three-component convergence. In the story “The Dress” the two-component
convergence was observed. The more components are used for poeticalness, the more
challenging it is to translate. The stylistic convergence in “The Star-Child” was
reproduced into Ukrainian with good skill and talent. At the same time the creative
translator made small changes in the target text: Отже Хлопчик-Зірка був білолиций і
стрункий, мов статуя зі слонової кістки, а його кучері були золотисті, мов
завитки гіацинту. Його ніжні вуста були наче пелюстки червоної троянди, а очі
– мов фіалки на березі тихої річки. Він був схожий на дикий нарцис, що вільно
росте у нескошеному полі [Wilde 2008: 231].
The translator skillfully reproduced all the metaphoric similes, so typical for
Wilde who liked to describe a man’s beauty. Also, the sound effect is partially rendered
with the same alliteration [I] – білолиций, пелюстки, фіалки. Moreover, Radiyenko
emphasized the effect by choosing other alliterating words: стрункий, мов статуя;
(slender like statue); золотисті, мов завитки.
Quite logically, the Ukrainian translator substituted a more general word flower
by a more specific noun троянда (rose), the adjective pure (water) by a synonymic
word тиха (quat). Only the omission of the word body in the target text seems to be not
very appropriate as the word is essential in the description of the Star-Child’s
appearance.
While the stories by Wilde and Thomas contain several stylistic convergences,
usually two or three, the short stories by the well-known American writer Kate Chopin
include one, maximum two devices. A very poetical, romantic and somewhat ironic
story “A Harbinger” contains a narration of the first love of the young painter Bruno to
his model Diantha who posed for him. The text is very short, and the second and third
prose stanzas constitute stylistic convergence: And then there was the gentle Diantha,
with hair the color of ripe wheat, who posed for him when he wanted. She was as
beautiful as a flower, crisp with morning dew. Her violet eyes were baby-eyes […]
Bruno sighed a good deal over his work that winter. The women he painted were all
like mountain-flowers. He tried not to think of sweet-eyed Diantha. I present here a part
of the convergence which includes alliterations (not so numerous, as in the text by
Wilde and Thomas) and several similes, metaphors and epithets. The key tropes are
biomorphic as the main woman character and other women are compared with
mountain flowers. It is interesting to note the symbolic name of the main character – the
girl’s name Diantha means “divine flower” from the Greek “dios” (God) and “anthos”
(flower). The young translator Yuliya Dudchak transcoded the name and gave
explication in the footnotes. The name of the girl and the key tropes in the text create
semantic unity. The comparison of the girls with mountain flowers can be interpreted in
two ways: 1) they are beautiful and unique; 2) they are too difficult to reach. Such
associations make the narration even more romantic and poetical.
The biomorphic similes in the text which are the basis of the convergence are
rendered exactly by the talented translator: Її краса цвіла неначе квітка, омита
ранковою росою; Жінки, зображені на його картинах, були прекрасні, наче гірські
квіти. In the target text the transformations are minimal: the grammatical substitution
of the adjective beautiful by the noun краса (beauty) and the addition of the adjective
красиві. The phonetic aspect of poeticalness is realized by using alliterations with other
sounds that create semantic unity of similes in the target text: Краса цвіла, наче
квітка; ранковою росою; чарівні очі.
A very short story “The Night Came Slowly” contains a small, but an expressive
stylistic convergence of the metaphoric-phonetic type: The katydids began their
slumber slong: they are at it yet. How wise they are. They do not chatter like people.
They tell me only: “sleep, sleep, sleep”. The wind rippled the maple leaves like little
warm love thrills (Chopin 1997: 366). The use of anthropomorphic metaphors is a
manifestation of the author’s world picture, how she admires the nature, how poetical
her stories are. Here the sound effect is created not by repeating the sound [I], but by
indirect onomatopoeia (sleep) by which Chopin ascribes the properties of human beings
to the object of nature. The onomatopoeic words “sleep, sleep, sleep” which produce the
impression of imitating human speech can be reproduced by literal translation: “Спи,
спи, спи”. The brevity and rhythm are similar to the source text. The final sentence of
the convergence includes the multiple repetition of the sound [I] combined with the
original simile. It is well known that in many languages this sound is associated with
positive feelings, with something pleasant, tender, beautiful. In translation I rendered
the stylistic effect: Вітер колихав кленове листя, неначе надсилав теплі любовні
послання. In this fragment the 7-fold alliteration is rendered, only one lexical
substitution is made (thrills - послання).
While the classical British and American short stories contain several devices of
poeticalness, the contemporary flash fiction stories involve mainly one devices of
poeticalness, usually convergence. Convergences can be observed in strong positions-
endings of the texts. Flash fiction stories are very short texts, 2-3 pages long. In such
texts devices of poeticalness are especially foregrounded. In this paper I analyze the
texts of the collection of stories “Flash Fiction Forward” (2006). All the stories were
written after the year 2000.
The text by Leigh Wilson “Bullhead” begins and ends with the same phrase:
Every story is true and a lie. Thus, text paradizmatization is partially realized, and such
frame repetition creates distant cohesion. But the final paragraph contains a small, but
expressive stylistic convergence: Every story is true and a lie. The true part of this one
is: Love and the memory of love can’t be drowned. The lie part is that this is a good
thing. This small prose stanza includes oxymoron, antithesis, metaphors of love and
parallel construction. Therefore, this convergence can be called tropeic-syntactical. The
challenge in translation was rendering the oxymoron true and a lie, as it includes two
different part of speech, and finding a Ukrainian synonym to the word lie (брехня). I
used two adjectives – Кожна історія є правдивою і неправдивою водночас (Every
story is true and untrue at the same time), making a grammatical substitution. Thus, the
contrast between two words is not so strong and corresponds to the context – the story
of an old woman who still remembers her first love.
Another romantic and poetical text in the collection of flash fiction is “My Date
with Neanderthal Woman” by David Galef. The title contains an anachronic and
oxymoronic phrase and creates foregrounding. The author tells a fantastic story how the
Transworld dating agency arranges a date of a modern man with a Neanderthal woman.
Again, just the last prose stanza contains a small but very emotional and expressive
stylistic convergence with metaphors, antithesis and parallel structures. One of the
translation challenges was to reproduce the play of words: I like rock music and she
likes the music of rocks. The play of words is a part of antithesis and is based on
homonymy. My senior student Inna Protokovska rendered the pun using paronomasia:
Я люблю слухати рок музику, а вона – музику рік (the music of rivers). In Ukrainian,
the play of words and the metaphors music of rivers are fully adequate to the original.
Conclusion
Poetical prose is such prose where one or several devices of poeticalness are
foregrounded. It does not mean only formal, traditional use of stylistic devices. The
texts of poetical prose are usually emotional (Chopin, Wilde, Galef), romantic (Chopin,
Wilson), have certain moral (Wilde). Our investigation involves the short stories of only
some British and American writers but these authors are outstanding and original
writers who influenced the British and American literature.
The conducted research shows that the most foregrounded and efficient device of
poeticalness is stylistic convergence. Convergences in the short stories by Chopin,
Wilde, Thomas are mainly tropeic-phonetic, with extended metaphors and alliterations.
As a rule, in classical stories there are several convergences. The convergences are not
big and embrace two-three paragraphs, or prose stanzas. Translating poetical prose
involves rendering original anthropomorphic or biomorphic metaphors as adequately as
possible. Usually, such tropes are translated literally or with the use of lexical
substitutions. In many cases alliterations are rendered by the same phonetic device and,
ideally, with the same dominant sound.
Modern flash fiction stories contain mainly one convergence, usually in the
ending. The translation difficulties are connected with rendering oxymoronic phrases
and play of words. In such cases synonymic substitutions are possible as well as
compensation by another phonetic (lexical) device, like homonymy → paronomasia.
Since there are few investigations of poetical prose translation, this direction of
research is very promising. Also, it is connected with “the satisfaction from the text”
(R. Barthes) from reading emotional, romantic, colourful texts, both in the original and
in translation.
References
Bednarova-Gibova, Klaudia (2012). Non-Literary and Literary Text in
Translation. Presov: Presov University, 2012.
Hermans, Theo (2007) Literary Translation. In: A Companion to Translation
Studies. Clevedon: Multilingual Mathers: 77-91.
Jakobson, Roman (1964). Linguistics and Poetics. In: Style in Language.
Cambridge: The M. I. T. Press. 350-377.
Newmark, Peter (1988). A Textbook on Translation. New York – London:
Prentice Hall.
Schmid, Wolf (1987). Prose and Poetry in Povesti Belkina. Canadian Slavonic
Papers. Volume 29, № 2-3. 210-227.
Riffaterre, Michael (1967). Criteria for Stylistic Analysis. In: Essays on the
Language of Literature. Boston – New York.
Solganik, Gregory (2007). Syntactic Stylistics (in Russian). Moscow: LKI
Publishers.
Tynyanov, Yuri (1977). Poetics. History of Literature. Cinema (in Russian).
Moscow: Sovetsky pisatel.
Wilde, Oscar (2009). The Canterville Ghost (with parallel Ukrainian
text).Kharkiv: Folio.
Yemets, Alexander. Investigating Poeticalness of prose (2012). Saarbrucken: LAP
Lambert Academic Publishing.