SEMIOTIC ASPECTS OF CULTURAL TRANSFER IN LITERARY TRANSLATION IN THE CASE OF “LANGUAGE POETRY”

Abstract

The article explores literary translation as a semiotic process of cultural transfer, with particular attention to the ways cultural codes are reshaped in poetic translation. Within this framework, translation is approached not merely as a linguistic procedure but as the production of a secondary text situated within a different semiosphere. Emphasis is placed on the translator’s role as a cultural mediator who recreates emotional, symbolic, and aesthetic meanings in accordance with the norms and expectations of the target culture.

Methodologically, the study adopts an interdisciplinary qualitative approach that combines comparative-contrastive textual analysis, semiotic and structural analysis, linguistic-cultural methods, and hermeneutic interpretation in order to examine processes of cultural transfer in literary translation. The analysis is based on Bob Perelman’s poem “China” (1981) and its Russian translation by V. V. Feshchenko, examined in the context of Language poetry. The research identifies a range of semiotic codes including numerical and cosmological references, everyday pragmatic formulas, technological and urban imagery, elements of material culture, and political symbolism and investigates how these codes are preserved, modified, or recontextualized in translation.

The results show that poetic translation entails complex processes of cultural reinterpretation: while some semiotic structures remain relatively stable, others are intensified or reframed in line with the cultural conventions of the target language. The study concludes that translation functions as a form of symbolic reconstruction and a site of intercultural dialogue, through which new cultural meanings are generated. From a broader perspective, the findings underline the importance of a semiotic approach to translation as a creative and interpretive practice and contribute to ongoing discussions in translation studies, poetic analysis, and intercultural communication.