Translations of Pushkin, Tolstoy?

[Russell Valentino]

David Powelstock's suggestion is constructive. I especially appreciate the
workable solution: spleen is clearly better. But this discussion has reminded
me of a comment by Eliot Weinberger. Forgive me for quoting a slightly large
snippet:

"And yet translations ... are often dismissed on the basis of a single word,
usually by members of foreign language departments, known in the trade as the
'translation police.' They are the ones who write- to take an actual example-
that a certain immensely prolific translator from the German 'simply does not
know German' because somewhere in the vastness of Buddenbrooks, he had
translated a 'chesterfield' as a 'greatcoat.' Such examples, as any translator
can tell you, are more the rule than the exception. One can only imagine if
writers were reviewed in the same way: 'the use of the word "incarnadine" on
page 349 proves the utter mediocrity of this book.'"

The whole (entertaining and informative) piece is here:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~iwp/91st/vol1_n1/vol1_n1AUTH_WEINBERGER.html. Or go to
91st Meridian (http://www.uiowa.edu/~iwp/91st/) and click on issue number one.

Russell

Quoting David Powelstock <pstock at BRANDEIS.EDU>:

> The problem with Falen's translation of "russkaia khandra" as "Russian soul"
> is that it suggests that Evgeny's particular spiritual condition is the
> equivalent of the Russian soul in general.[...] Do we really think that
Pushkin considered Evgeny the emblem of "russkaia dusha"?  That would be a hard
argument to make.  Thus, "Russian soul" is a bad translation error.  It
distorts Pushkin's attitude toward Evgeny and Russia, and it is semantically
and historically inaccurate. "Russian spleen" would work better, and it
wouldn't be difficult to rhyme.
>
> David Powelstock
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
> > [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Irina Zhulamanova
> > Sent: Friday, May 06, 2005 12:02 PM
> > To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Translations of Pushkin, Tolstoy?
> >
> > 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

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