NY Times on Avant-Garde Russian Art Collection in Nukuz, Uzbekistan

[William Ryan]

Oboroten' in Russian most commonly denotes a werewolf, but may also be 
other animals, in which case "were-animal" is perhaps the easiest 
readily understandable translation - the various Greek-based words like 
therianthrope seem to me to be a bit unnecessary except in very 
specialised contexts where professional jargon is required. Were-animal 
has been used in a number of books and articles, including my own 
history of Russian magic (The Bathhouse at Midnight). The Oxford English 
Dictionary lists it as early as 1897. The use of the word oboroten' in 
other Russian folklore contexts is very limited.
In the context of the play by Teffi "werewolf" is still a possible 
translation - compare the analogous use of the word for members of the 
Nazi undergound movement at the end of WW2.

Will Ryan



On 09/03/2011 16:53, Edythe Haber wrote:
> Dear SEELANGtsy,
>
> I am having trouble finding the English equivalent for the word oboroten'.  Russian-English dictionaries I have consulted translate it as werewolf, but that clearly does not fit the context of the text I'm working on:  a 1938 play by Teffi, in which emigres are called oborotni, since they keep changing identities -- their names, nationalities, professions, etc.  Ozhegov defines the word as:  "chelovek, sposobnyi prevrashchat'sia v kogo-chto-n. s pomoshch'iu volshebstva" -- in other words,  not only into wolves.  I can't seem to come up with an English word denoting this.  I'd much appreciate your help.
>
> Thanks,
> Edie Haber
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic&  East European Languages and Literatures list on behalf of Benjamin Rifkin
> Sent: Tue 3/8/2011 9:48 AM
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: [SEELANGS] NY Times on Avant-Garde Russian Art Collection in Nukuz, Uzbekistan
>
>
>
> Dear SEELANGers:
>
> This article may be of interest to many in our community:
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/arts/design/desert-of-forbidden-art-igor-savitsky-collection-in-nukus.html?_r=1
>
> Best wishes to all,
>
> Ben Rifkin
> The College of New Jersey
>
>
>
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