translation question

[Jack Kollmann]

Nancy,

         I like "sustenance," although each time I turn to a translation 
project, I find myself re-thinking (over-thinking?) how best to translate 
something like this.

         On the (different) subject of entertaining translation goofs, look 
up Benjamin Uroff's review article in Slavic Review (JSTOR), March 1969, 
pp. 125-127, of a translated publication of a 1955 Soviet "History of 
Russian Economic Thought:  Ninth Through Eighteenth Centuries," wherein 
Uroff notes errors like "thoughtful clerk" for "dumnyi d'iak" (state 
secretary) and "food money" for "pishchal'nye dengi" (taxes for the 
purchase of firearms, "pishchali").  It's a fun read, and disturbing, 
because we are all capable of committing slightly off dictionary 
translations, false derivatives, anachronisms, etc.

Jack Kollmann
Stanford University


At 05:54 PM 3/22/2006, you wrote:
>Jack, what about "sustenance"?
>
>Prof. Nancy Condee, Director
>Graduate Program for Cultural Studies
>2206 Posvar Hall
>University of Pittsburgh
>Pittsburgh, PA 15260
>412-624-7232
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
>[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Jack Kollmann
>Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 5:47 PM
>To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
>Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] translation question
>
>          Literally, "feeding," more descriptively, "provisioning,"
>"upkeep," "maintenance," "subsistence," "subsidy," "support."  There is no
>single English word that covers the nuances of what "kormlenie" was as a
>system for the support of regional officials (namestniki, volosteli,
>voevody, etc.) in Muscovite times.  If "ruga" occurs (usually in reference
>to priests) in the same text, the translator is faced with the challenge of
>distinguishing the two practices -- similar, but not identical -- in
>English.
>
>          A translation is like a mistress:  if it's too pretty, it may not
>be faithful; if it's faithful, it may not be very pretty.  Take your pick,
>but surely the literal "feeding" for "kormlenie" is awkward.
>
>Jack Kollmann
>Stanford University
>
>
>At 09:47 AM 3/22/2006, you wrote:
> >Hello,
> >
> >what is the English term for the Russian "kormlenie"?
> >
> >("Kormlenie - oznachalo pervonachal'no sposob soderzhaniia dolzhnostnykh
> >lits. Sud'i, vmeste s ispolniteliami ikh reshenii, poluchali ot mestnogo
> >naseleniia vse neobkhodimoe dlia propitaniia kak ikh samikh, tak i slug
> >ikh i dazheloshadei. Eto byl tak nazyv. korm v nature.")
> >
> >Your help will be much appreciated!
> >Please reply off-list at tbuzina at yandex.ru.
> >
> >Thank you,
> >Tatyana
> >
> >--
> >Tatyana V. Buzina,
> >Associate Professor, Chair,
> >Dpt. of European Languages,
> >Institute for Linguistics,
> >Russian State U for the Humanities
> >
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