Page 92 - AC-3-3

Arts & Communication Advanced macro-image model for poetry translation

with the whole. This approach treats a poetic work as a identification of the subsemantic image marker, we
macro-image and enables us to identify implied sense as considered the paradigmatic potentials of the virtual
a special type of image – an implied sense image – which language sign and their simultaneous or retrospective
is an integral component of the poetic macro-image. actualization at syntagmatic and textual levels.
Following this logic and drawing on Skalicka’s concept of Based on this understanding, we have investigated
62
“subtext,” we propose calling this image subsemantic.
how subsemantic imagery is created in a poetic work
Thus, a subsemantic image is formed within the and its reproduction in translation. We also examined
general macro-image structure at the subtextual (implied various translational challenges related to relocating signal
sense) level of a poetic work. The form of expression of markers of subsemantic information from the original
a subsemantic image can manifest as both autosemantic poetic text into the target language. Major means of
and synsemantic images. The differential features of creating a subsemantic image level of a poem include the
the subsemantic image are evident, highlighting their simultaneous actualization of paradigmatic potentials of
originality and distinguishing them from “prose” implied a lexical unit, the semantic layering and semantic shifts,
senses. Alongside autosemantic and synsemantic images, association, pre-supposition, stylistic techniques, tropes,
subsemantic image is a full-fledged dimension of the distant repetition, rhetorical questions, word order, title,
macrostructure of a poetic work. name, echoing, intonation and rhythmic factors, sound
When present in a poem, a subsemantic image typically symbolism, and paraverbal and other means.
expresses the main thought, the deep idea behind the poetic One significant method of creating a subsemantic image
work. In this context, it can be referred to as a conceptual- of a poem involves the simultaneous actualization of various
subtextual image, encapsulating the essence of the poem’s paradigmatic potentials of a lexical unit at the linear and
underlying message. superlinear levels. The functioning of linguistic elements
In the context of a poetic work, the subsemantic image within syntagmatics depends on their paradigmatic
often serves as the leading element, to which all other properties. As a word transitions from paradigmatic to
images are subordinated. Consequently, for translators, it syntagmatic use, its semantic structure may change to adapt
typically represents an image dominant that necessitates to different objects or communication goals.
primary reproduction in the translation process. A lexical unit realizes its semantic potential within
We propose designating the poetic implied sense that is syntagmatics when secondary features of the object
actualized at the level of the whole text and embodies the relevant for general identification are highlighted through
main idea of a poem as a conceptual subsemantic image. potential semes. These features are activated based on how
Conversely, the implied sense that arises at the level of text the author intends for them to be perceived by the readers.
units can be referred to as a local subsemantic image of The ability of a language element to engage simultaneously
a poetic work. A synchronous subsemantic image can be with multiple contextual structures within a poetic text
defined as a poetic implied sense that arises at the level allows it to function effectively at the linear and superlinear
of the entire poem text and conveys independent parallel levels.
ideas. At the superlinear level, a word becomes a carrier of new,
A subsemantic image is formed as content-factual additional information when it accumulates new meanings
information unfolds within the structure of the entire poetic from the semantic indicators of prior linear contexts. This
text. Given that the structure of the subsemantic image occurs when the author creates conditions that allow for the
often covers the entire poetic work, it can be stated that retrospective perception of these new semantic features,
the boundaries of this image align with those of the poem which are irrelevant to the word’s semantic structure or
itself. This structural correlation between the components entirely absent from it. In the formation of subsemantic
within the poem, where its macro-image structure has imagery at the lexical level, the connotations, associations
a subsemantic dimension, becomes the fundamental of the word, and inherent ambiguity of the word become of
principle of perception and translation. Incidentally, we primary importance.
note that this aspect complicates our ability to illustrate In Frost’s poem “A Minor Bird,” the creation of a
63
this part of our study with concrete examples, as it requires conceptual subsemantic image is exemplified through the
the consideration of the full text and its translation. simultaneous activation of multiple meanings associated
The presence of signals or markers in the poetic text with specific words: I have wished a bird would fly away,
is essential for identifying, decoding, and reproducing / And not sing by my house all day; // Have clapped my
subsemantic images in translation. During the hands at him from the door / When it seemed as if I could

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 14 doi: 10.36922/ac.5990