Translations of Pushkin, Tolstoy?

[Sara Stefani]

These are all very interesting points and arguments. The problem with
the word "spleen" is that in contemporary usage, it means spite or ill-
will - more like zloba than khandra. So in a contemporary context, this
might be misleading. Interestingly enough with regard to Pushkin
providing his own 19th-century variant of 'angliiskii spleen':
according to Webster's, one archaic meaning of "spleen" is melancholy.
So you could use the word "melancholy" or even, which may have more
nuance, "ennui."

However, also interestingly enough, Webster's gives other obsolete
definitions of "spleen": one is "a sudden impulse or whim: caprice,"
another is "the seat of emotions or passions." Which could therefore
almost justify the use of the word "soul." Using Pushkin's own gloss
could be problematic without knowing what definition of the English
word might have been current at the time.

Just a little lexical word-play on a Friday afternoon.

Best,
Sara Stefani

Quoting Russell Valentino <russell-valentino at UIOWA.EDU>:

> 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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