Translation question

[R. M. Cleminson]

Sorry, I only seem to have sent half a message (and not the more interesting half).  I intended to go on to say that this is a very interesting dilemma for the translator, where the author has combined references to two cultures (one of them his own), but when the text needs to be translated into a third, some sacrifice probably has to be made.  One can retain the Russian reference ("unctuous love for our household matreški") or the classical one ("...painted wooden penates"), but to retain both (while being stylistically tolerable) requires a degree of explication which may go beyond what is acceptable for the sort of translation being made ("If we turn our traditional wooden dolls into some sort of household gods, then any unctuous expression of love for them will only induce nausea...")  As ever, it very much depends on the purpose and nature of the translation which solution is the best.

----- Originálna správa -----
Odosielateľ: "R. M. Cleminson" <rmcleminson at POST.SK>
Komu: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Dátum: piatok, január 28, 2011 10:11:55
Predmet: Re: [SEELANGS] Translation question

This is not confirmed by any authority, but it seems to me that матрешечный < матрёшка, the nesting wooden doll.  The idea of penates in the form of a cliché of Russian popular culture seems to fit in with Berdjaev's satirical attitude to Rozanov.

----- Originálna správa -----
Odosielateľ: "Giuliano Vivaldi" <giulianovivaldi at HOTMAIL.COM>
Komu: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Dátum: piatok, január 28, 2011 09:34:53
Predmet: [SEELANGS] Translation question

Dear Seelangers,

I have been trying to translate the phrase елейная любовь к матрешечным пенатам - without much luck
елейная любовь I think is a citation of Berdayev and his criticism of Rozanov - which for want of a better idea I have translated as unctuous love but I am stalled by Матрешечые пенаты - any ideas? 

the full context of the quote is
 Елейная любовь к матрешечным пенатам скоро вызовет обратное рвотное чувство и мы породим поколение, ненавидящее насильственно запихиваемую в нас любовь к отечеству.

from Stas Markelov´s "Патриотизм как диагноз"

Many thanks for any ideas.

Giuliano Vivaldi
 		 	   		  

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