RENDERING MISSPELLING OF THE CLASSICAL NAMES IN THE RUSSIAN TRANSLATIONS OF A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Abstract

The article studies misspelled names from the interlude Pyramus and Thisbe which is part of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (hereafter MND). 10 translations, presenting all the names under examination, incorporated 48 equivalents. The research will argue that the translators of MND into Russian prioritized rendering the allusions to the misspelled forms of the names of the classical characters. The names from every translation were studied in terms of expressing the allusions, shown as received interpretation in the annotated editions followed by examining the rendered misspelled forms. The hypothesis is confirmed: the allusions were rendered in the majority of the translations. This component was provided in 41 Russian equivalents, while the misspelled forms were found in 28 Russian equivalents. The translation done by Lozinsky was acknowledged as the only one containing adequate equivalents for the complete set of the names under research.