The subject of the study is the images of male characters in A.N. Ostrovsky's play "The Guilty Without Guilt" (Grigory Murov, Grigory Neznamov, Shmaga, Pyotr Milovzorov, Nil Dudukin) in the aspect of their reception and artistic transformation in the Chinese translation-adaptation by Geng Jizhi "Mother's Heart." The mechanisms of intercultural adaptation and strategies of "Sinicization" of the text in the historical and cultural context of China in the 1940s are considered. The focus of the analysis is on lexical-stylistic and content changes: modification of speech characteristics, intonations, names of characters, transmission of cultural realities, gestures, and stage behavior. Special attention is paid to the comparative analysis of dialogues and monologues to identify translational transformations and their influence on the social status, psychological motivation, and ethical portrayal of male characters in the adaptation process. The key method of the research became the comparative analysis of the original "The Guilty Without Guilt" and its Chinese translation. The scientific novelty lies in the absence of systemic works in contemporary literary studies dedicated to the receptive-comparative analysis of the perception of the play "The Guilty Without Guilt" in China. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that Geng Jizhi's translation demonstrates a dual nature. On the one hand, while remaining faithful to the main plot and conflicts, striving to accurately reproduce each scene, the gestures of the characters, and correspond to the realities of material culture, the translator retains the main negative traits of Murov, such as hypocrisy, selfishness, and cowardice, as well as the satirical sharpness of Milovzorov's image, manifested in a utilitarian attitude towards art and contempt for the audience. The admiration of Dudukin for the high calling of theater and sympathy for actors is also conveyed. On the other hand, there are reductions and changes in the lines of male characters: in Murov's image, political motivation is omitted, and the intonation is generally softened; Shmaga's biographical background and elements of social satire are excluded; Neznamov's sarcasm and emotional sharpness are weakened, and the ring composition of the key monologue is disrupted. These changes collectively lead to a decrease in expressiveness, psychological depth, social sharpness, and tragic coloring of male images. The transformation of male characters in the play enhances the contrast with the idealized image of the mother-heroine and shifts the focus from social criticism and the problem of injustice to the universal theme of maternal love and self-sacrifice.
Xueer Yang (Sun,) studied this question.