SOCIAL FRAME IN COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS AND ITS POTENTIAL IN TRANSLATION STUDIES

The article deals with the application of cognitive frames for TS analysis. It is suggested that Cognitive translatology offers a theoretical framework for a systematic and coherent description of different types of frames. Rendering of social frames actualized in Thomas Hardy’s novel “Under the Greenwood Tree” in the Ukrainian translation by Mariia Holovko is researched and different findings and losses of her translation are analyzed from the standpoint of frame semantics.

Introduction. In modern cognitive linguistics the notion of frame is viewed as an intricate cognitive phenomenon having reference to the process of lingual categorization and representation of information. Frame semantics has a wide range of applications reaching from Morphology to Typology, from Discourse Analysis to Language Acquisition and others. The notion of frame has also become an effective tool for explicating the translation process and has brought to life cognitive translatology -an interdisciplinary study of the 21st century overlapping cognitive linguistics, cognitive psychology and translation studies. Cognitive translatology: a) considers mental structures and processes underlying translation taking into account its social, cultural, pragmatic, psychological and other dimensions; b) centers upon the role of cognitive individual differences in conceptualizing reality and c) views the translator as a mediator between two conceptual systems. According to Neubert and Shreve the translator's task is the 'reestablishment' of textually realized 'knowledge repertoire' organized by frames from L1 into L2 [1: 61]. Ten years later Rojo supported this view and described translation as the projection of SL frames onto TL linguistic components, provided that the conceptual information corresponds to that evoked by SL components in semantic, pragmatic, and stylistic terms [2: 315].
Frame semantics does not lend itself easily to formalization thus there are a lot of approaches to identifying types of frames. Among the principal types singled out by different researchers (see [3]) social frames are of special interest for TS scholars, since the organization of our social knowledge always includes the knowledge of the type of language which is appropriate to different types of roles and interpersonal relationships. In this sense social frames help us to predict what СЕКЦІЯ XIX. ФІЛОЛОГІЯ ТА ЖУРНАЛІСТИКА linguists have called tenor of discourse together with other features of the situational context or 'situational dimensions.' Social frames comprise Generic frames or prototypes of people; Themes [3], on which we base our predictions on the goals people pursue. These themes may be Role themes, which help us to understand the goals and actions of people with clearly defined social roles, such as 'writer,' 'poet,' 'psychologist,' etc.; Interpersonal themes or frames related to social and affective relationships, such as relationships between 'lovers,' 'parents and children,' 'friends,' etc.; Life themes, which describe the general status or goal that a person desires in life [4]. Rojo considers De Vega's classification too general for TS purposes and suggests the following four types of social frames: 'geographic origin,' 'social status,' 'interpersonal' and 'institutional' [2].
Results of research and discussion. Let us illustrate the potential of applying the notion of social frame in TS describing some translation techniques used by Mariia Holovko in her Ukrainian translation of Thomas Hardy's novel "Under the Greenwood Tree". The latter appeared anonymously in 1872, and was the first in his great series of what came to be called the 'Wessex' novels. It is a pastoral comedy of manners that is quite unlike the tragic novels of his later years for which he is well known. The sub-title suggests both the principal subject and the tone in which it should be considered: The Mellstock Quire: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School. For this novel Hardy selects a minor feature of traditional social life -the musicians and singers of a parish choir. The Ukrainian translation authored by Holovko appeared in 2015 [5] and shows both losses and findings when analyzed from the standpoint of frame semantics. The first extract chosen for the analysis (Table 1) illustrates how interpersonal and institutional frames are brought together in the original and how they are rendered in translation. Social frame of partnership is actualized together with the frame of work and translating this extract Mariia Holovko as a mediator between two conceptual systems introduced some changes to make the text more natural for a target reader. The institutional frame of work verbalized through labours views the situation from the perspective of effort or work, especially physical work. The translator using обов'язки activates a different semantic frame for a Ukrainian reader: something one has to perform in accordance with the requirements of society or own conscience -228 SECTION XIX. PHILOLOGY AND JOURNALISM thus a certain perspective of responsibility is specified. Another social frame referring to interpersonal communication is represented in the original through the opposition: words as vehicles of thought and words as courtesies. The translator omitted the first component of this opposition altogether thus violating the stylistics of the passage. What concerns the translation of the second component Holovko suggests балачка to reproduce words as courtesies. For Ukrainian readers this word mentally restores an aimless talk but not something you do or say to be polite as in courtesy.
One more transformation suggested by the translator refers to the institutional frame of social hierarchy. Trying to emphasize that two heroes had the same social views Hardy views the situation from the perspective of equality. The translator changed the perspective attracting the attention of Ukrainian readers to вільність соціальних поглядів thus activated the knowledge of some limitations within the relations between masters and servants imposed by social status. In the context of the passage вільність places emphasis on the evaluation of such equal social views as unacceptable.
The second extract ( Table 2) when analyzed from the standpoint of frame semantics provides more evidence that frames activated by the ST and TT can partially differ and the transference of the SL frame information into the TL with regard to semantic cultural and stylistic factors can be modified though the degree of their similarity in terms of frame mental imagery is adequate. The social frame of marriage as verbalized in this passage evokes the image of a happy married life shared by the heroes of the novel. Actually, by means of describing problems that may arise because of the wrong choice of wife, the author provides a warning against "a poverty-stric' wife and family of her". Both the original and the translation contain idiomatic expressions which highlight the mental image of marriage typical for a rural citizen of that time. The translator applies the strategy of domestication and the technique of addition so as to vividly render the frame semantics and to achieve the proper pragmatic effect on the target audience. For example, house and home for an English reader creates an image of a place where СЕКЦІЯ XIX. ФІЛОЛОГІЯ ТА ЖУРНАЛІСТИКА one is comfortable with his/her loved ones and is rendered into Ukrainian through батьківський будинок where one lives happily. This is emphasized by adding the idiom як у Бога за пазухою. For a Ukrainian reader this idiom creates the image of comfort and protection and is a good translator's choice for preserving the mental imagery.
Another idiomatic addition: від заздрощів лікті кусали emphasizes the image of getting all the best from one's parents what makes other people envious. One more English idiom that Hardy uses to describe a carefree life without family: not troubled by chick nor chiel is rendered into Ukrainian using жити, горя не знаючи which activates the same social frame.
One more challenge for the translator was to render the frame of marriage in the context of the financial provision of the family. The first example in the extract is: making a husband in her pocket. The metonymic transference underlying the development of idiomaticity is actually preserved in Ukrainian translation, though the mental association money -pocket is substituted by гроші -гаманець. The second example is of particular interest and shows how the translator renders the social frame of poverty using a common Ukrainian idiom не мати ні гроша за душею though in the ST the image is more detailed and emphasizes that neither level of social hierarchy metonymically described as hat (an indicator of social status when worn for ceremonial reasons such as, for example, university graduation), cap (the symbol of service as, for example, the armed forces of uniformed civilian organizations), wig (a distinctive class symbol and a part of the official costume of lawyers), or waistcoat (the gentleman's staple) is accessible for kids in the poor family.
Conclusions. Thus frame semantics approach offers a valid theoretical background for studying the preservation of mental imagery evoked by ST in the TT and provides the basis for studying of the dynamic process underlying the ability to reproduce information in translation. Since frames represent static and dynamic phenomena through mental simulation, they work efficiently for describing and explaining the workings of the translator's mind. Translators, from the perspective of frame semantics can be viewed as creators who, by operating with frames, aim to achieve cognitive equivalence, i.e., make sure TL linguistic expressions activate frames having the highest degree of similarity to the ones evoked by SL linguistic expressions.