translation question

[Peter Morley]

In this case - assuming its for a written translation and not just a general
vocab enquiry - I would suggest it would also be more than acceptable just
to transliterate kormlenie, given that the explanation that follows is
fairly comprehensive. This would solve the problem quite neatly, I would
have thought.

On the funny translations side, recent ones that spring to mind were
"landing places" (for posadochniye mesta) and the persistent use of
"refuelling" on a restaurant menu (for zapravka).

PM


On 23/03/06, Jack Kollmann <jack.kollmann at stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> 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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