Nowadays cognitive linguistics has offered different approaches to analyse the concepts that emerge as a primary concrete image that gradually expand their conceptual levels in the course of a person's cognitive activity and communicative practice. This process leads to the emergence of new conceptual layers that expand the scope of the concept and enrich its content.

One of the areas of research of the concepts are emotion concepts. The research of emotion concepts and translation of the lexicon that verbalizes those concepts is very important for understanding the perception and expression of different emotions by diverse cultures.

After the screen adaptation of Denis Villeneuve's films, which are based on the book "Dune" by Frank Herbert, interest returned to the series of books about the sandy planet Dune. One of the key points in both the book and the film was a fragment called the Litany Against Fear, which is a fictional form of self-suggestion used by various characters in the Dune Universe novels to silence feelings of fear and focus the mind in the face of danger.

The screen adaptation had a shortened version of Litany Against Fear, so the illustrative material utilized for analysis was the novel "Dune", namely the excerpt that may be called ‘Litany Against Fear’ authored by Frank Herbert and its translation into Ukrainian language.

This paper aims to outline the distinctions and parallels between conceptual metaphors in the source and target languages as well as the translation transformations used during the translation. It is suggested that the method presented in Lakoff and Johnson's study (1980) will be used. Also, theoretical background for analysis will be the works on emotion concepts by Zoltan Kövecses (1990) as well as translation transformations. The analysis will be performed sentence by sentence.

First of all, the definition of the word ‘litany’ has to be clarified. According to Collins Online Dictionary (n.d.) in the section of American English ‘litany’ means ‘a series of fixed invocations and responses, used as a prayer’. As it was mentioned earlier, due to the book (Herbert, 2015) it may be called more as psychological self-suggestion in spite of the title that implies religious background.

Z. Kövecses (1990) described the model of ‘fear’ with the next cognitive model: there is the danger that provokes fear – fear exists and exhibits certain behavioral reactions – a person tries to take control over fear – a person may lose control over fear – a person either flees from the danger or feels safe and relieved because of fear ceasing to exist. Understanding of each aspect of fear can give a clearer understanding of the nature (ontology) of fear.

The first sentence ‘I must not fear’ (Herbert, 2015) was literally translated into Ukrainian «Я не повинен боятися» (Herbert, 2017) without any translation transformations (literal translation). It can be determined that a verb ‘fear’ verbalizes the emotion concept FEAR although there is no metaphorical representation in this sentence.

The second sentence is more engaging due to application of some translation transformations:

Fear is the mind-killer (Herbert, 2015).

Страх убиває розум (Herbert, 2017).

Change of grammatical forms (part of speech) was used, ‘mind’ turns into «розум», but undergoes a structural change, as the English mind-killer becomes the Ukrainian sentence «убиває розум». Another translation transformation was used – modulation.  The phrase «Страх убиває розум» is more natural for the Ukrainian language, but somewhat changes the focus from "fear as a killer" to "fear acting as a killer". Conceptual metaphor used in this sentence is FEAR IS A VICIOUS ENEMY (Kövecses, 1990). An enemy/opponent of this kind presents a threat to the self's survival.

The third sentence:

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration (Herbert, 2015).

Страх — це маленька смерть, що веде до повного самозабуття (Herbert, 2017).

The translation is literal and the conceptual metaphor is the same as in the previous sentence.

The fourth sentence:

I will face my fear (Herbert, 2015).

Я зазирну в очі своєму страхові (Herbert, 2017).

Lexical substitution (specification), differences in stylistic features: this is a stylistic change that gives the phrase a more expressive and metaphorical character. Conceptual metaphor FEAR IS A VICIOUS ENEMY is used again.

In the next sentence:

I will permit it to pass over me and through me (Herbert, 2015).

Я дозволю йому пройти повз мене та крізь мене (Herbert, 2017).

While translating the phrase ‘I will permit it to pass’ was conveyed as ‘Я дозволю йому пройти’ that is allowing to adapt the meaning by letting someone through or passing the person. As one does not change the meaning, in this case the focus is on the frame of mind that allows the fear to be let through, unopposed. Conceptual metaphor FEAR IS A SUPERNATURAL BEING (GHOST, etc.) (Kövecses, 1990).  was used in this sentence as it can pass over someone what is typical for spirits or ghosts.

The following sentence

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its
path (Herbert, 2015).

І коли він піде геть, то я  обернуся до нього внутрішнім зором і простежу його шлях.

has lexical substitution (specification), the phrase ‘it has gone past’ – this adds a differentiation for the distinct stages of movement, and the distances covered, in a more tangible way. Fear is percepted as a supernatural being again.

The last sentence to analyze:

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing (Herbert, 2015).

Там, де страх пройде, нічого не зостанеться.

There is no translation transformation in the words that verbalize the emotion concept FEAR.

The last sentence of ‘Litany Against Fear’ doesn’t verbalize the emotion concept FEAR, so there is no need for analysis of its translation.

Thus, the translation of Frank Herbert’s excerpt called ‘Litany Against Fear’ preserved original meaning by literal translation as well as by some translation transformations as change of grammatical form and lexical substitution (specification). There were 2 conceptual metaphors FEAR IS A VICIOUS ENEMY and FEAR IS A SUPERNATURAL BEING (GHOST, etc.) that were successfully reconstructed in the translation.

References

1. Collins Dictionary. (n.d.). Litany. In Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved November 10, 2024, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/ english/litany
2. Herbert, F. (2015). Dune. Hodder & Stoughton.
3. Herbert, F. (2017). Diuna (A. Pityk & K. Hrytsaichuk, Trans.). Klub Simeinoho Dozvillia. [in Ukrainian].
4. Kövecses, Z. (1990). Emotion Concepts. Springer-Verlag.
5. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. The University of Chicago Press.