Aleksandr Pushkin

[bazarov]

Well, yes, more or less. I can agree with the latter part of this, but, quite honestly, I am increasingly unsure about translated literature. (This is why I signed up for Russian in college - only to be disappointed in finding that my university has not been offering it for a few years... )

I have finally successfully signed up for my Russian classes Really nice language.

[Boris239]

Congratulations, Baz! If you need any help, fell free to ask.

[bazarov]

Congratulations, Baz! If you need any help, fell free to ask.

Thanks!
It's really nice, but our dear Olga doesn't know any Croatian, so I am glad that my English serves me well!

[Erichtho]

I had read some shorter prose works and The Captain's Daughter in German and wondered what was so great about Pushkin. It was only when I bought a poetry selection in Russian and started to read it that I caught a glimpse of Pushkin's greatness, even though my Russian is unfortunately less-than-desirable albeit years of studies (I guess I have no talent when it comes to languages ). Eugen Onegin is one of my reading gaps I'm most ashamed of and I hope one day I shall be able to read it in original.

...but, quite honestly, I am increasingly unsure about translated literature.

I share your sentiments, and especially poetry is actually impossible to be translated (and Russian is such a wonderful language for poetry!). Unfortunately even if we can speak a couple of languages and are able to read in them the vast majority of literature will always only be accessible for us through translations, so we are doomed to either stick to our national literatures (which would be such a loss) or to depend on hopefully good translations.

[...] It is perhaps slightly unfair to point out that it is well over twice as vast as any other language (save perhaps Russian, which I'll come back to momentarily), as it is the very nature of the language to assimilate foreign words; yet it is still a concern that a translated work which does its best to capture the narrative but (necessarily) loses a great deal of the connotation and subtext is almost a total waste of the reader's time. Fortunately, I know English and need not worry about a translation with James, but I worry about similar problems with Russian literature. The impression I get is that Russian has a more or less equal number of words to English. And while this might make English translations of Russian literature somewhat simpler than, say, German or French translations, it still seems that the nature of the words themselves is largely different. (I vaguely recall hearing a joke once about "the Russian word for 'sitting on a rock at night, watching the sea...under the stars...quietly' ", or something like that. A mighty verb, I must say. )

Can you give me any source for your claim that English and Russian have more words than German and French? I'm highly sceptical of that (and can actually not see a great advantage because I imagine the active and passive vocabulary of a person, be it an English or French native speaker, to be around the same size.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying amounts to a questioning of whether all literature really can be enjoyed by all literate people. Is there really any point to reading translated literature if it is unable to reproduce the subtleties that can actually give the work its meaning? Just curious what people think. This actually might apply more to poetry, though...

Of course there is a point in reading translated literature! Literature gives an insight into minds and cultures that no other medium can offer, and even though one might not be able to judge the literary value it, the experience is still worth every page of it. How difficult a translation is depends of course on how closely the two languages are related, whether we are talking about prose, drama or poetry, how many slang or dialect words there are included, etc..
No translation can have all subtle nuances of the original, usually there are two ideals for a translator: to reproduce
1) the content or
2) the mood and style as exactly as possible.

2) is usually in the focus of translators of literary works, because this is of course what literature is in essence, but one always has to cut back...

My 0.02$.

[sinopound]

I like Pushkin's To A.P.Kern


I remember a wonderful moment
As before my eyes you appeared,
Like a vision, fleeting, momentary,
Like a spirit of the purest beauty.

In the torture of hopeless melancholy,
In the bustle of the world's noisy hours,
That voice rang out so tenderly,
I dreamed of that lovely face of yours.

The years flew quickly. The storm's blast
Scattered the dreams of former times,
And I forgot your tender voice,
And the features of your heavenly face.

In remoteness, in gloomy isolation,
My days dragged quietly, nothing was new,
No godlike face, no inspiration,
No tears, no life, no love, no you.

Then to my soul an awakening came,
And there again your face appeared,
Like a vision, fleeting, momentary,
Like a spirit of the purest beauty.

And my heart beat with a rapture new,
And for its sake arose again
A godlike face, an inspiration,
And life, and tears, and love, and you.

Very neat and its content is minute, the feelings strong.

If only I could have someone write such a poem for me.