The free associative experiment as a psycholinguistic investigation method of the trans lation process: A theoretical insight

Abstract

This paper deals with the psycholinguistic methods of investigation of the cognitive process of text reception and the process of translation – the free associative experiment. The psycholinguistic experiment can be seen as a complex investigation method. The application of the psycholinguistic experiment is thus to be embedded in the translational experiment in the aspect of the polyvariety of translation: Two German translations of the novel The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and the novel Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak are to be analyzed in the frames of the psycholinguistic experiment. The source of the polyvariability of translation is the subjective character of the interpretation of meaning, which is based on probabilistic processes and associative mean-ings. Emotions play an important role here. The empirical data obtained will be used for didactic purposes in the training of prospective translators.