TRANSLATION OF RIDDLES IN FILMS: COMMUNICATIVE AND COGNITIVE ASPECT

Abstract

The article considers structural and cognitive characteristics of riddles in film translation. Artistic riddles do not follow any specific patterns from the standpoint of the methods used for encoding the answer to be guessed. Consequently, they pose a variety of challenges for the translator. The clues the riddler gives can be embodied in a rhyme, an anagram, they can be based on the play of words or resemble folk riddles with their inherent abstract imagery. However, every riddle proceeds from a certain communicative strategy. Seemingly designed to prevent the guesser from obtaining what they wish, riddles are meant to check if the seeker is worth the “prize”. The guesser potentially possesses the knowledge and skills required to find the answer, though it may take considerable effort. The sufficiency of clues necessary to reach the solution corresponding to the original constitutes a major factor of the riddle translation. Nevertheless, the structural component plays an equally impor­tant part in terms of preserving the aesthetic influence of the riddle. Sometimes, it is even crucial to ensure the appropriate visualization on the screen or to provide for the consistency of the plot. Anagrams can be rendered on the basis of rearrange­ment of letters in the target language. The successful reproduction of rhythm and rhyme heavily depends on the nature of the images underlying the riddle, how abstract or concrete they are, whether they allow for a certain degree of modification without disturbing the connection of the riddle and the answer. The foreign-language component shall be naturally entwined in the translation, preferably retaining its “otherness”. The play of words is a complex problem in itself. In riddles it is even more relevant to recreate the play, since its omission may not only affect the overall aesthetic function of the original but also blur the images vital for finding the correct answer. In films the issue of riddles translation becomes more multifacet as their rendering requires taking into account the correlation between the textual aspect of the riddle and the events unfolding on the screen.