Vasily Grossman - 'The Town of Berdichev' - katsapka

[ameliede at EARTHLINK.NET]

At 12:08 AM 4/9/2010, you wrote:
>Dear all,
>
>[snip]...
>3. 'that goy woman'.  This is clearly inaccurate.  It means translating a
>term used by Jews of non-Jews by means of a term used by Ukrainians of
>Russians.  One reader finds this deeply upsetting.  On the other hand, it
>conveys the tone.  And, in the context of the speech as a whole, it seems to
>me to work well.  The 'good Jewish mother' at the end makes it entirely
>clear that Beila is actually quite approving of Vavilova and certainly not
>condemning her for being non-Jewish.
>
>I would be very grateful for your thoughts about this!


I also am revolted by the 3rd solution.  I assuming you are translating for an
English-speaking reader, so what you need is a derogatory term for a Russian.
That the original term is Ukrainian may not be material.  You could 
use "Russky",
taken as a mild negative term in English.  If you want something a 
little more exotic but
understandable, how about "Russak", a mild term of opprobrium used by 
Molokans for
"normal" Orthodox Russians?  I think an intelligent reader would 
"get" this term.
Too bad the object is a woman, otherwise "Ivan", or "Vanya" would be 
perfect, used by
Jews in the old Russian army for "real" Russians, and again, 
understandable to English readers.
Jules Levin
Los Angeles

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