podkidnoy durak: Grossman: 'V Kislovodske' & 'Zhilitsa'

[Robert Chandler]

Many thanks to the many people who have contributed their thoughts and
knowledge!

In the story I am at present translating, 'V Kislovodske', the nature of the
game is not that important.  The game's name does not merit the emphasis it
would receive from e.g., 'they were playing durak'.  I shall stick with
'they were playing cards'.

But there is another story I may end up translating, 'Zhilitsa', where the
nature of the game DOES matter.  The suggestion is made in the very last
line that the card-player, 'kto ostalsya' (i.e. kto ostalsya durakom) should
go to the domoupravlenie and hand in an official letter that has just
arrived for a 'sosedka' who has just died.   The letter is an official
notification that the dead woman's husband, who died in 1938, has been
'rehabilitated'.  In this case - I have now, after your collective input,
decided - I shall translate it as something like 'they were playing "fool"',
and provide a footnote briefly explaining the game.

Thanks once again!

R.



> Sara Stefani wrote:
> 
>> 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.

>And Paul Gallagher wrote:
> This choice is a judgment call that must be made based on the purpose of
> the translation, the intended readership, etc. One size does not fit
> all. Translations are not done in an idealized vacuum, but in the real
> world, and reasonable editors may differ in any given instance.

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