SEELANGS" Omissions in translations?
Melissa Smith
mtsmith02 at YSU.EDU
Mon Dec 13 21:33:59 UTC 2010
I think this is a very valuable line of discussion, since fewer and
fewer students are reading works of Russian literature in the
original, or getting to the level where they can make comparisons
themselves.
Over a decade ago, before my university reduced the foreign language
requirement from five quarters to two semesters, I often proposed final
projects or combined students at various levels of proficiency in
discussions of reading in translations and the original Russian. This
invariably led to interesting discoveries -- for me as well as the
students.
One student was reading "The Brothers Karamazov" in an abridge version,
and I proposed a close reading of the chapter "Bunt." I quickly
discovered that the very sentences and passages that I found critical
to discussion of both language and literature were the ones that had
been abridged out of the text!
In another class in which I had chosen to study Sergei Dovlatov's
"Inostranka," the weakest student i the class had found a translation
that edited out the paragraphs that discussed the Russian immigrants
past lives in the Soviet Union -- which had constituted the major
section I had wished to talk about in class.
In other words, what was lost in translation was found in pedagogy, I
hope! Does anyone comparative translations as a regular part of their
work with students?
Thanks,
Melissa Smith
On 12/13/10 1:55 PM, Robert Chandler wrote:
> My apologies for my own carelessness - I was confusing The White Guard
and The Master and Margarita.
>
> I also now realize that I was muddling different volumes of
Politkovskaya.
>
> Now I shall take a vow of silence, at least for the day!
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Robert
>
> On 13 Dec 2010, at 18:25, Lewis B. Sckolnick wrote:
>
> > Privet
> >
> > Michael Glenny left out some dream and flash back segments in White
Guard which has been available since 1925 in Russian although it has
been a bit hard to find at times.
> > Misha the despot, Misha the psychopath, Misha the greatest egotist...
> >
> > Lewis
> >
> >
> > On 12/13/2010 12:43 PM, Robert Chandler wrote:
> >> Dear all,
> >>
> >> We need to be careful not to jump to conclusions. Michael Glenny
was translating from an incomplete text, the only text available at the
time.
> >>
> >> As for Anna Politkovskaya, I don't know the details about this
particular chapter, but I know that most of her books were published in
English - as books - long before they were published in Russian.
(Whether they have, now, all been published in Russian, I am not sure).
My understanding is that the English versions were put together with
great care, from both published and - at the time - unpublished
articles.
> >>
> >> All the best,
> >>
> >> Robert
> >>
> >> On 13 Dec 2010, at 17:25, Lewis B. Sckolnick wrote:
> >>
> >>> When Michael Glenny translated White Guard he left an awful lot
out. Marian Schwartz has rectified that.
> >>>
> >>>>> Lewis B. Sckolnick wrote: "A Jewish writer from Baku found that
her American PhD Translator did not
> >>>>> want to fully translate her works so no wonder no one is
interested in them."
> >>>> That is actually a fascinating topic in itself.
> >>>>
> >>>> A few years ago I had discovered, while teaching Aitmatov's
"Plakha," that the English translation, "Place of the Skull," was, in
fact, abridged.
> >>>>
> >>>> Even more frustrating was the experience with non-fiction. I was
putting together a syllabus for the survey of 20th-century Russian
literature featuring a hero (or lamenting the lack thereof). We would
start with Gorky's Danko, and as homage to Anna Politkovskaya, who was
assassinated earlier that year, end, uncharacteristically, with
excerpts from her "Vtoraia Chechenskaia/A Small Corner of Hell." The
last reading of the course that would complete the circle and result in
the final, most intense discussion, was that of Politkovskaya's
encounter with a female Chechen activist Malika Umazheva, who was
murdered shortly after, and who identified herself as Danko of her
time. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that that entire section
was missing from the English translation. I ended up translating it
myself and including in the course packet as an addendum.
> >>>>
> >>>> I wonder how these cuts get decided upon, and how much of a say
the publisher gets in each case.
> >>>>
> >>>> Inna Caron
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> ________________________________________
> >>>> From: SEELANGS: Slavic& East European Languages and Literatures
list [SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] on behalf of Lewis B. Sckolnick
[info at RUNANYWHERE.COM]
> >>>> Sent: Monday, December 13, 2010 8:46 AM
> >>>> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> >>>> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Russian accent: investment in footbal
> >>>>
> >>>> It is all in the translation. Take a look at Lydia Pasternak's
> >>>> translations of her brothers poetry and compare with other
translations.
> >>>> A Jewish writer from Baku found that her American PhD Translator
did not
> >>>> want to fully translate her works so no wonder no one is
interested in them.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On 12/10/2010 12:34 PM, Lemelin, Christopher W wrote:
> >>>>> In my mind, the works that made it (more or less) successfully
into
> >>>>> English translation are precisely that type. Perhaps Russian
humor is
> >>>>> simply too difficult to translate, or maybe this can be said
about humor
> >>>>> in general. Maybe Russian humor is just too unlike humor in
> >>>>> anglo-speaking cultures (and maybe this can be said about
translating
> >>>>> any humor). (By the way, my American college students rarely
understood
> >>>>> my amusement with Monty Python. Some of it they got; most of
it, most
> >>>>> of them didn't. And of course there may be political factors in
play in
> >>>>> the less frequent translation of Russian "humorous" works.) In
any
> >>>>> case, the consequence is that what we get as the masterpieces of
Russian
> >>>>> literature are Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. To quote: " 'nuf said."
> >>>>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>>> Christopher W. Lemelin
> >>>>> Language Training Supervisor, Russian Section/Tajiki Section
Department
> >>>>> of Slavic, Pashto, and Persian School of Language Studies
National
> >>>>> Foreign Affairs Training Center 4000 Arlington Boulevard
Arlington,
> >>>>> Virginia 22204
> >>>>>
> >>>>> lemelincw at state.gov
> >>>>> 703-302-7018
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> This email is UNCLASSIFIED
> >>>>>
> >>>>> ||-----Original Message-----
> >>>>> ||From: SEELANGS: Slavic& East European Languages and
Literatures list
> >>>>> ||[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of amarilis
> >>>>> ||Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 10:40 AM
> >>>>> ||To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> >>>>> ||Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Russian accent: investment in footbal
> >>>>> ||
> >>>>> ||On 12/10/2010 9:41 AM, John Dunn wrote:
> >>>>> ||> Some thoughts on recent postings.
> >>>>> ||>
> >>>>> ||> Olga Meerson raises an interesting point: has anyone
given any
> >>>>> ||> consideration to
> >>>>> ||the question why Russian literature, taken generally, has a
reputation
> >>>>>
> >>>>> ||for being particularly gloomy, at least among English-speaking
> >>>>> ||non-specialists (if not non- readers)?
> >>>>> ||>
> >>>>> ||
> >>>>> ||I have taught Russian Short Stories four times at my
university.
> >>>>> ||Inevitably, by the midterm, the students look up to me and say:
> >>>>> ||"Why does everybody always die in the end?"
> >>>>> ||
> >>>>> ||They have Jane Austin. We have Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. 'nuff
said.
> >>>>> ||
> >>>>> ||Amarilis Lugo de Fabritz
> >>>>> ||Lecturer, Howard University
> >>>>> ||
> >>>>>
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> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> Lewis B. Sckolnick
> >>>> The Ledge House
> >>>> 130 Rattlesnake Gutter Road, Suite 1000
> >>>> Leverett, MA 01054-9726
> >>>> U.S.A.
> >>>>
> >>>> Telephone 1. 413. 367. 0303
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> >>>> info at runanywhere.com
> >>>>
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> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Lewis B. Sckolnick
> >>> The Ledge House
> >>> 130 Rattlesnake Gutter Road, Suite 1000
> >>> Leverett, MA 01054-9726
> >>> U.S.A.
> >>>
> >>> Telephone 1. 413. 367. 0303
> >>> Facsimile 1. 413. 367. 2853
> >>> info at runanywhere.com
> >>>
> >>>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD
> >>
> >> tel. +44 207 603 3862
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Lewis B. Sckolnick
> > The Ledge House
> > 130 Rattlesnake Gutter Road, Suite 1000
> > Leverett, MA 01054-9726
> > U.S.A.
> >
> > Telephone 1. 413. 367. 0303
> > Facsimile 1. 413. 367. 2853
> > info at runanywhere.com
> >
> >
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> >
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>
>
>
>
> Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD
>
> tel. +44 207 603 3862
>
>
>
>
>
>
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------------------------------------
Melissa T. Smith, Professor
Department of Foreign Languages and
Literatures
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, OH 44555
Tel: (330)941-3462
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