Onegin, recent translations

[Chris Cosner]

To report back on my question: Has anyone used the Hofstadter translation of
Eugene Onegin for a course?

I received several answers right away, many recommending the Falen
translation, often with the caveat that Hofstadter is a valuable comparison
for students. One person recommended trying Hofstadter on a group of
students to see if it would be more engaging. Having now read Hofstadter, I
can say that this is a distinct possibility. Definitely a valuable and
enjoyable read.

Descriptions of Douglas Hofstadter's translation:
In his own words, published in the NYT Review of Books:
http://adaweb.walkerart.org/influx/muntadas/nytbooks.html

A review of Hofstadter by Adrian Wanner can be found in
Comparative Literature Studies (vol.27, no.1, 2000, pp.83-86)

It was also suggested that one way of introducing students to the sound of
Onegin stanzas written originally in English is to read from Vikram Seth's
_Golden Gate_. I wonder if following this with a reading of some stanzas in
Russian would convey rhythm and rhyme to non-Russian speakers?

There was also the suggestion of another recent translation of Onegin by
Stanley Mitchell: See Vol. 11 of Modern Poetry in Translation (Summer 1997),
a description of which can be found at
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/mpt/MPTissues.htm#11

If your library does not carry the journal, information on purchasing back
issues can be found at
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/mpt/mpt.htm
I obtained this translation through interlibrary loan and discovered that
the journal only published the
first chapter. In full, I'm sure the Mitchell translation would be worth
considering for the classroom, but there does not appear to be full version
available. If anyone has information to the contrary, please post!

For the curious: I will probably use the Falen translation this semester,
with a glance to Hofstadter, Nabokov, and others to provoke discussion of
the translation of poetry, and we will view the new film Onegin after having
finished with the text.

--CKC

_____________________________
Dr. Christopher Cosner
Assistant Professor of Russian
Dept. Modern Languages
DePauw University
Greencastle, IN  46135
office: (765) 658-6598
home: (765) 653-2876
e-mail: ccosner at depauw.edu
web: http://acad.depauw.edu/~ccosner
_____________________________

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