The Peculiarities of the «family» Concept Transfer in the German Translations of the Novel «crime and Punishment» by F. M. Dostoevsky

Abstract

The article focuses on the peculiarities of specific cultural elements and the features of the concept «family» transfer in four German translations of F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel «Crime and Punishment». The material of the research is the most representative episode analysis (selected from the factual German translations of the novel by V. Genkel, E. Kerrik, A. Eliasberg, S. Geier), where the concept of family is objectified through lexemes comprising the nucleus of its nominal field as well as through the author’s elements that expand it. Thanks to the family’s adherence to the basic values of traditional cultures, the translators avoided serious semantic distortions and reached the maximum level of equivalence in their translations. The causes of reduction and intensification of some concept features are due to the linguistic and cultural asymmetry, as well as the lack of attention of translators to the features of Dostoevsky’s style.