TRANSLATING RACIALLY MARKED VOCABULARY IN JOHN GRISHAM’S “A TIME TO KILL”.

Abstract

This article examines racially marked vocabulary in John Grisham’s A Time to Kill and its rendering in Yu. Kiryak’s Russian translation Пора Убивать. The analysis focuses on ethnonyms, racial slurs, Klan-related expressions, and protest slogans that verbalize racial hostility, social hierarchy, and ideological polarization in the novel. The study is based on the works of Teun A. van Dijk, Ruth Wodak, V. A. Lazarev, Valerii M. Mokienko, Mukhtasar Abdullaeva, and Dilafruz Hasanova. Using comparative, contextual, and functional analysis, the article identifies the main translation tendencies in the target text, including preservation, intensification, mitigation, omission, and generalization. The findings show that the Russian translation largely retains the emotional force of racial conflict, but not always its historical and cultural specificity. The article concludes that the translation of racially marked vocabulary requires a balance between semantic accuracy, pragmatic effect, and cultural recognizability.