podkidnoy durak

[Sara Stefani]

I wonder if it wouldn't be better to avoid finding an American/English
"equivalent" (such as Uno, Old Maid, Rummy, etc.), since that would give an
"unauthentic" feel to the translation and the text. I think that if I, as an
American reader, were reading a translation of Grossman and two soldiers were
playing a distinctly American card game, it would either strike me as odd and
out of place or, if I didn't have much knowledge about Russian culture, 
I would
take it for granted that Russians play the same card games that Americans do.
Why not just translate it as "they were playing durak" with a footnote
explaining that durak is a Russian card game? Granted, footnotes and
annotations are clumsy and awkward - but I find it preferable to 
misleading the
reader by inserting a culturally-inappropriate equivalent. Emily Saunders'
earlier suggestion of just saying "they were playing cards" also seems to be a
good option. We're familiar with how things are "lost in translation," but
sometimes too much is added too.

Best,
Sara Stefani

Quoting Edward M Dumanis <dumanis at BUFFALO.EDU>:

> I think that "UNO" might be functionally equivalent with "DURAK" in some
> sense. I assume here that "podkidnoj" (more fun, more interpersonal
> interaction) is not essential here.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Edward Dumanis <dumanis at buffalo.edu>
>
> On Tue, 18 Apr 2006, Emily Saunders wrote:
>
>> For what it is worth this game (described as "President" on the website
>> you give) I have actually played in Russia under another name -- Govno,
>> I think.  It's a bit like the card game "Bullshit" -- and I apologize
>> for the epithets, but these are the names of the games -- however, the
>> key elements include changing seats at the end of each round and the
>> exchange of cards according to the "social status" obtained during the
>> last hand.  I have some uproarious memories of playing Govno with a
>> huge group of friends on a Primorsky beach in the summertime, with us
>> kicking sand all round at the end of each hand as we switched places...
>>
>> The associations I've always had with Durak is that it is a
>> college-student (possibly army recruit), on long train trips, visiting
>> grandparents type of card game.  It's perhaps a bit of a working class
>> game, but I would say that it lacks the strong childhood associations
>> that games like Go Fish, Old Maid, and Crazy 8's have for your average
>> American card player.
>>
>> (Erik:  Thanks for the www.pagat.com website address -- I was delighted
>> to find rules for tysyacha (1000) there.  Memories from college dorm
>> late-night card sessions come flooding back...)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Emily Saunders
>>
>>
>> On Apr 18, 2006, at 2:28 PM, Erik McDonald wrote:
>>
>> > There is a card game played in the US that is somewhat similar to
>> > "podkidnoi durak," though it isn't the same.  Its unliterary name - I
>> > know it as "Asshole" - and its social status as a drinking game rather
>> > than a children's game might make it unsuitable for the Grossman
>> > translation.  The rules can be found at
>> > http://www.pagat.com/climbing/asshole.html, which gives some less
>> > offensive names for it as well.  That site puts it in a different
>> > classification than Durak (the same site's Durak rules, as Anthony
>> > Qualin wrote, can be found at
>> > http://www.pagat.com/beating/durak.html), but at least it isn't a
>> > trick-taking game.  As in Durak, the last person with cards left loses
>> > and becomes the name of the game.
>> >
>> > Erik McDonald
>> >
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