Translations of Pushkin, Tolstoy?

[David Powelstock]

Russell's anecdote is amusing, but Weinberger's pitiless critic is beside
the point in this discussion.  No one has disparaged Falen's translation as
whole.  On the contrary, it has been commended in this thread, except for
this one unfortunate moment.  In her original post, Laura simply said that
she would warn her students in advance of this error, since can easily lead
to mistaken inferences and, in her experience, already had.  I took her to
mean that it gives students the utterly mistaken idea that Evgeny's
condition was somehow emblematic of the "Russian soul," a term with an
entire history of its own.  (Did I understand you correctly, Laura?)
Translators have enough natural predators without fabricating strawmen.

Cheers,
David
(Powelstock)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at listserv.cuny.edu] On Behalf Of Russell Valentino
> Sent: Friday, May 06, 2005 2:05 PM
> To: SEELANGS at listserv.cuny.edu
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Translations of Pushkin, Tolstoy?
>
> 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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