THE SPECIFIC FEATURES OF RENDERING FANTASY SETTING OF SARAH J. MAAS’S NOVEL “A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES” IN THE UKRAINIAN TRANSLATION

Abstract

The article examines the specific features of rendering fantasy setting in the Ukrainian translation of Sarah J. Maas’s novel “A Court of Thorns and Roses”. Fantasy setting is understood as a complex system of linguistic, cultural, and narrative elements that construct a secondary fictional world, including invented realia, proper names, toponyms, mythological creatures, rituals, and social institutions. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing interest in the translation of contemporary fantasy literature and the need for a systematic analysis of world-building elements in translated texts. The aim of the article is to identify and analyse the strategies used to reproduce fantasy setting in the Ukrainian translation of the novel and to assess their effectiveness in preserving the integrity of the fictional world. The research is based on the analysis of culture-bound items and quasi-realia functioning in the source text and their Ukrainian equivalents. Particular attention is paid to the role of transliteration, calquing, and semantic adaptation in rendering the spatial, cultural, and symbolic dimensions of the fantasy universe. The results of the study demonstrate that fantasy setting in the Ukrainian translation is reproduced through a balanced combination of foreignizing and domesticating strategies. Such an approach ensures both the preservation of the otherness of the fictional world and the accessibility of the text for the target readership. The novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive interpretation of fantasy setting as a key translation category that integrates linguistic form, cultural meaning, and narrative function. The findings contribute to the development of translation studies by highlighting the importance of consistency and systematisation in translating fantasy world-building elements.