The interpretation module in the framework of the cognitive-discursive model of diachronic plurality in the translation of Shakespeare’s plays

Abstract

Abstract The article offers procedures for the linguistic and cognitive modelling of diachronic plurality in the translation of Shakespeare’s plays. Cognitive-discursive analysis is provided to reveal different interpretations of Shakespeare’s ideas embodied in chronologically distant retranslations produced by Ukrainian translators in different historical periods, namely, by Panteleimon Kulish at the end of the 19th century, Leonid Hrebinka in the 1930s, and Yurii Andrukhovych at the beginning of the 21st century. The research proposes the interpretation module as a component part of the cognitive-discursive model of diachronic plurality in translation, presented as a two-component structure consisting of invariant components such as genre, characters and plot, and variant components including historically different social and cultural contexts of Ukrainian retranslations, different literary styles of the corresponding epochs, and translators’ creative personalities. The research postulates the idea that the linguistic and cognitive modelling procedure of the interpretation module is an effective tool in reconstructing the conceptual content of Shakespeare’s plays in chronologically distant Ukrainian retranslations.