Translations of Pushkin, Tolstoy?

[Irina Zhulamanova]

Dear Laura and Robert,

actually, Pushkin himself gave an 19th century English equivalent for
'khandra',
'angliiskii spleen'. How would you translate this 'spleen' into contemporary
American English? The translation of 'khandra' as a 'soul' for me looks like
saying that 'courage' equals 'temper'. Khandra is one of the soul's emotional
conditions, features, etc, so soul is a generic word for khandra. We say, "Ne
khandri, ne nervnichai, ne dergaisia" in contemporary Russian, isn't it
possible to draw on this and find a more specific Enflish lexical item than
'soul'?

Irina

Quoting Robert Chandler <kcf19 at DIAL.PIPEX.COM>:

> Dear Laura,
>
> I agree entirely with your general praise of Falen.  I just want to add that
> the line you quote is not an 'unfortunate translation choice' in the least.
> It conveys Pushkin's meaning and tone very well.  I appreciate that a
> language teacher may find it irritating if students end up thinking that
> 'khandra' = 'soul' - but translators are NOT language teachers!
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Robert Chandler
>
>> I just used Falen for the first time in a survey course and found that
>> it was surprisingly accurate, given how well it conveys the tone of the
>> original to non-Russian speakers.  One word of warning: 1:38 contains
>> the unfortunate translation choice of rendering "koroche: russkaia
>> khandra" as "We call it simply /Russian soul/."  Students read all kinds
>> of deep meanings into this, something which I plan to forestall with
>> advance warning next time around.
>>
>> Laura Goering
>> Carleton College
>>
>> pjs wrote:
>>
>>> Anyone have any strong feelings about the Johnston vs. the Falen
>>> translation of E.O. for a survey course in 19th-century Russian
>>> literature?  My sense (after a cursory inspection) is that the Johnston
>>> hews more closely to the original while the Falen "reads better."  Other
>>> suggestions?
>>>
>>> How about _Death of Ivan Illich_?  Any suggestions there? Anyone seen the
>>> Pasternak-Slater translation?
>>>
>>> Peter Scotto
>>> Mount Holyoke College
>>>
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