Hamlet's image as a poet and its interpretation in Valeriy Ananyin's translation

The article analyzes the image of Hamlet as a poet which is developed in a new translation of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (2010) by a Karelian translator Valeriy Ananyin. The novelty of the translation accompanied by the translator’s valuable commentaries and notes contributes to the importance of the research, because the image of Hamlet as a poet, which appears to be off the radars of Russian and foreign researchers, is reflected by Valeriy Ananyin for the first time. The article attempts to explore the image of Hamlet as a poet in the context of Valeriy Ananyin’s translation strategy using the comparative and culture-historical methods, as well as multilevel text analysis and translation linguistic commentary. The research material is original and translated Prince Hamlet’s poetic lines, which the translator discusses in his literary critical essay on Prince Hamlet’s verses. Hamlet’s poetic heritage, however small, reveals the artistic and imaginative side of his mind, allowing to speak about Hamlet as an artist. Valeriy Ananyin’s translation approach used for creating the image of Hamlet as a poet is determined by a theatre director’s vision of Hamlet as a tragedy intended for stage performance. Therefore Hamlet’s verses translated by Valeriy Ananyin become incentive, which is expressed by frequent exclamations and ample gestures. Transformations identified in the studied translation illustrate such techniques as modulation, a change in stylistic connotation or a shift of the referential meaning of a word.