LITERARY TRANSLATION IN THE PARADIGM OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION: CULTURAL MEDIATION, MEMORY, AND THE TRANSLATOR’S AGENCY

Abstract

This article examines literary translation within the paradigm of intercultural communication, emphasizing its function as cultural mediation, a vehicle of cultural memory, and a site of translator agency. Moving beyond linguistic equivalence, the study argues that literary translation operates as a transformative intercultural act shaped by ideological, historical, and aesthetic factors. Drawing on examples from Russian and Uzbek literature in English translation—including works by Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Abdulla Qodiriy, and Togay Murod—the article analyzes strategies for rendering nationally specific realia and identity markers. The research synthesizes insights from contemporary translation studies and intercultural theory, highlighting the ethical and interpretative responsibility of the translator as an intercultural agent. The findings demonstrate that literary translation not only transfers meaning but also reconstructs cultural representation within global literary systems.