Translation in Forming Musical Discourse: A Case Study of English-Language Song Lyrics in Russia

Evgeniya V. Aleshinskaya

doi:10.18778/1731-7533.18.4.03

Authors

Evgeniya V. Aleshinskaya National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Moscow, Russian Federation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1731-7533.18.4.03

Keywords:

musical discourse, Russian English, sociolinguistics, song lyrics, translation

Abstract

The paper considers translation as an intermediate stage in the creation of English-language song lyrics by native Russian speakers. Russian songwriters quite often rely on their native language and translate their thoughts from Russian into English. This leads to the use of a “russified” variety of English, which performs poetic and pragmatic functions and serves as a medium harmonizing content, sound, and music. Drawing evidence from 214 songs in various musical genres, as well as 10 ethnographic interviews with Russian songwriters, it examines the specific features of the Russian variety of English used in song lyrics, and discusses the main views on the authenticity of translation in song lyrics depending on the musical genre.

References

Adamu, A.U. 2010. The music’s journey: transcultural translators and the domestication of Hindi music in Hausa popular culture. Journal of African Cultural Studies 22(1). 41-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/13696810903488579 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13696810903488579

Aleshinskaya, E. 2013. Key components of musical discourse analysis. Research in Language 11(4). 423-444. https://doi.org/10.2478/rela-2013-0007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rela-2013-0007

Aleshinskaya, E. 2016. Translation and meaning making: a critical study of a multilingual performance in “The Voice Russia”. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 231. 173-178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.09.088 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.09.088

Aleshinskaya, E. and E. Gritsenko. 2017. Language practices and language ideologies in the popular music TV show ‘The Voice Russia’. Language & Communication 52. 45-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2016.08.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2016.08.005

Androutsopoulos, J. 2010. Multilingualism, ethnicity, and genre: the case of German hip-hop. In M. Terkourafi (ed.), Languages of Global Hip Hop, 19-44. London and New York: Continuum Press.

Baxter, J. 2010. Discourse analytic approaches to text and talk. In Lia Litosseliti (ed.), Research Methods in Linguistics, 117-137. London, New York: Continuum.

Blommaert, J. 2003. Commentary: a sociolinguistics of globalization. Journal of Sociolinguistics 7(4). 607-623. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2003.00244.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2003.00244.x

Blommaert, J. 2010. The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511845307 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511845307

Chik, A. 2010. Creative multilingualism in Hong Kong popular music. World Englishes 29(4). 508-522. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2010.01678.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2010.01678.x

Crystal, D. 2003. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Davies, E. E. and A. Bentahila. 2008. Translation and code switching in the lyrics of bilingual popular songs. The Translator 14(2). 247-272. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2008.10799258 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2008.10799258

Elmgrab, R. A. 2015. Authenticity and imitation in translating exposition: a corpus-based study. Journal of Educational Issues 1(1). 191-204. https://doi.org/10.5296/jei.v1i1.7781 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5296/jei.v1i1.7781

Franzon, J. 2008. Choices in song translation: singability in print, subtitles and sung performance. The Translator 14(2). 373-399. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2008.10799263 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2008.10799263

Gritsenko, E. and E. Aleshinskaya. 2015. Translanguaging in music: conceptualizing modes of interaction in global contact zones. Issues of Cognitive Linguistics 4(045). 73-80.

Gritsenko, E. and E. Aleshinskaya. 2016. Translation of song lyrics as structure-related expressive device. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 231. 165-172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.09.087 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.09.087

Kachru, B. B. 1986. The Alchemy of English: the Spread, Functions, and Models of Non-native Englishes. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.

Low, P. 2008. Translating songs that rhyme. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 16(1-2). 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050802364437 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050802364437

Mattar, Y. 2009. Popular cultural cringe: language as signifier of authenticity and quality in the Singaporean popular music market. Popular Music 28(02). 179-195. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143009001779 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143009001779

Proshina, Z. 2010. Slavic Englishes: Education or culture? In A. Kirkpatrick (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes, 299-315. London, New York: Routledge.

Proshina, Z. G. 2012. Dynamics of English development in its local varieties. ISLU’s Vestnik 2(18). 200-206.

Schennikova, N. V. 2013. Russian idiom of the English language: some features of its grammatical system. Proceedings of Voronezh State University 1. 183-187.

Ustinova, I. P. 2005. English in Russia. World Englishes 24(2). 239-251. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2005.00407.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2005.00407.x