Equivalence vs. Adequacy in Rendering Cultural Realia From Uzbek Into English: A Linguocultural Perspective

The article investigates the correlation of equivalence and adequacy as criteria for assessing the translation of culturally marked realia from Uzbek into English in a linguocultural perspective. The study relies on the classical dichotomy of translation theory (L. Barkhudarov, V. Komissarov, E. Nida, J. Catford) and on the notion of the cultural component in the meaning of realia (S. Vlakhov, S. Florin, R. Jakobson). The aim is to determine what correlation of equivalence and adequacy is realized in translating realia of Uzbek national customs and traditions into English, using as material A. Cholpon's novel "Night and Day" and its translations. It is established that for this translation pair full equivalence is achievable only at the denotative level and only under the strategy of transliteration with background commentary; at the conceptual and connotative levels the translation realizes predominantly adequacy proportional to the cultural distance. A three-level model for assessing the translation of realia (denotative, conceptual, connotative-pragmatic levels) is proposed, in which the criteria of equivalence and adequacy are distributed differentially. The results are of theoretical significance for refining the conceptual apparatus of translation studies and of practical value for assessing and editing translations of fiction.