Approaches to Translating Dialogical Unity with Tag Questions in Shakespeare’s Tragedy “Hamlet”

This article explores the approaches to translating dialogical unity featuring tag questions from William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet.” It analyzes translations of a specific fragment of the source text, which contains this dialogical unity, carried out by various domestic translators including N....

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Main Author: N. Yu. Merkuryeva
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Tsentr nauchnykh i obrazovatelnykh proektov 2025-05-01
Series:Научный диалог
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Online Access:https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/6253
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author N. Yu. Merkuryeva
author_facet N. Yu. Merkuryeva
author_sort N. Yu. Merkuryeva
collection DOAJ
description This article explores the approaches to translating dialogical unity featuring tag questions from William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet.” It analyzes translations of a specific fragment of the source text, which contains this dialogical unity, carried out by various domestic translators including N. Polev, A. Kroneberg, M. Vronchenko, and M. Zagulaev in the 19th century, as well as B. Pasternak, M. Lozinsky, A. Radlova, and Y. Lifshitz in the 20th century, and A. Agroskin, I. Peshkov, A. Chernov, and V. Poplavsky in the 21st century. The study highlights the diversity of translation options and characterizes the differences in the choice of translation techniques. It demonstrates that the variability of translations is linked to the translator’s attitude towards tag questions. Two directions of interpretation by translators are identified: when understood as interrogative sentences, the tags are rendered as brief question structures such as “isn't it?”, “right?”, “isn't that so?”, “perhaps?”, “why not?”, which can also be more elaborate: “could it really be so?”, “it could have been that way too, couldn't it?” Conversely, if tag questions are interpreted as emotionally charged statements by the character, translators often see no need to convey the interrogative tags. The analysis reveals that the interpretation of lines containing tag questions depends on the translators’ perception of Shakespeare’s intent and their understanding of the mood and state of the characters.
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spelling doaj-art-267ec354d284450b81a7aa8a00cb653d2025-08-25T18:13:34ZrusTsentr nauchnykh i obrazovatelnykh proektovНаучный диалог2225-756X2227-12952025-05-0114411513710.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-4-115-1373006Approaches to Translating Dialogical Unity with Tag Questions in Shakespeare’s Tragedy “Hamlet”N. Yu. Merkuryeva0Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian FederationThis article explores the approaches to translating dialogical unity featuring tag questions from William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet.” It analyzes translations of a specific fragment of the source text, which contains this dialogical unity, carried out by various domestic translators including N. Polev, A. Kroneberg, M. Vronchenko, and M. Zagulaev in the 19th century, as well as B. Pasternak, M. Lozinsky, A. Radlova, and Y. Lifshitz in the 20th century, and A. Agroskin, I. Peshkov, A. Chernov, and V. Poplavsky in the 21st century. The study highlights the diversity of translation options and characterizes the differences in the choice of translation techniques. It demonstrates that the variability of translations is linked to the translator’s attitude towards tag questions. Two directions of interpretation by translators are identified: when understood as interrogative sentences, the tags are rendered as brief question structures such as “isn't it?”, “right?”, “isn't that so?”, “perhaps?”, “why not?”, which can also be more elaborate: “could it really be so?”, “it could have been that way too, couldn't it?” Conversely, if tag questions are interpreted as emotionally charged statements by the character, translators often see no need to convey the interrogative tags. The analysis reveals that the interpretation of lines containing tag questions depends on the translators’ perception of Shakespeare’s intent and their understanding of the mood and state of the characters.https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/6253shakespearehamlethamlet translationsliterary translationtranslation variabilitytag question translationtag questions
spellingShingle N. Yu. Merkuryeva
Approaches to Translating Dialogical Unity with Tag Questions in Shakespeare’s Tragedy “Hamlet”
Научный диалог
shakespeare
hamlet
hamlet translations
literary translation
translation variability
tag question translation
tag questions
title Approaches to Translating Dialogical Unity with Tag Questions in Shakespeare’s Tragedy “Hamlet”
title_full Approaches to Translating Dialogical Unity with Tag Questions in Shakespeare’s Tragedy “Hamlet”
title_fullStr Approaches to Translating Dialogical Unity with Tag Questions in Shakespeare’s Tragedy “Hamlet”
title_full_unstemmed Approaches to Translating Dialogical Unity with Tag Questions in Shakespeare’s Tragedy “Hamlet”
title_short Approaches to Translating Dialogical Unity with Tag Questions in Shakespeare’s Tragedy “Hamlet”
title_sort approaches to translating dialogical unity with tag questions in shakespeare s tragedy hamlet
topic shakespeare
hamlet
hamlet translations
literary translation
translation variability
tag question translation
tag questions
url https://www.nauka-dialog.ru/jour/article/view/6253
work_keys_str_mv AT nyumerkuryeva approachestotranslatingdialogicalunitywithtagquestionsinshakespearestragedyhamlet