Female characters of A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Storm” in Geng Jizhi’s translation reception

The aim of the research is to identify the peculiarities of perception and reconstruction of the female characters of A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Storm” in the first Chinese translation of the play by Geng Jizhi, a literary scholar and translator. Through the comparative analysis, the translation strategies are determined, taking into account the peculiarities of the translator’s perception and interpretation of the female characters. Among them, Geng Jizhi’s interpretation of Katerina’s image is particularly concerned, which has affected the view of Chinese scholars on Katerina’s image, that is, she is a strong character with a “storm” personality. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the fact that it is the first to specifically study the translation reception of the play “The Storm” in China and to consider the peculiarities of the female characters’ perception and recreation in Chinese. The research reveals that the translator hopes to retain the national color of Ostrovsky’s play and reproduce the characters’ speech, behavior and their personality traits. But at the same time, in Geng Jizhi’s translation, Kabanova’s and Varvara’s characters are more introverted and Feklusha’s comic features become less obvious. The translator carefully reproduces the poetic and picturesque monologues of Katerina in the first few scenes of the play, but with the development of the conflict, he shortens the lyric fragments, changes the tone of the lines and thus creates a more resolute and strong character. The Chinese translator’s understanding and reconstruction of the female characters in Ostrovsky’s play are influenced by the linguistic features of the original work, Chinese cultural traditions and the necessity of adapting texts for stage performances. The interpretation of Katerina’s image is influenced by N. A. Dobrolyubov’s interpretation of her figure and the history and literary situation of China, which needed strong and active protagonists in artistic works.