15 Неделя

Тема 2 ч. Перевод в литературной коммуникации. Авторские метатексты, квазиметатексты, читательские метатексты. Стратегия использования метатекстов. Метакоммуникативный контекст перевода. . Перевод художественной поэзии. Translating Native Siberian Folklore into English. Native Siberian folklore.

If is no easy task to translate folk tales of the peoples of Siberia into English. Siberian folklore traditions differ greatly from those of European tales. For one thing, these tales include many strange names and words that are not present in many English dictionaries. In the tale «Чориль и Чольчинай» the opening formula runs as follows: «Еще тогда, когда нивхов много было, жили на Тромифе-острове Чориль из рода Тахта и Чольчинай из рода Чилъби. » То translate it, we should find an English substitute for the nationality — нивхи; since it does not appear in a dictionary, it may be transliterated as Nivkh (i) or Nywkh. More complicated is the case of Tpoмиф if it is transliterated as Tromf or Tromyph, this produces a non-geo­graphical term, for no such island exists on the map; the reader may take it for a fairy-tale, imaginary place. But, this is the Nivkh word for Sakhalin, a proper geographical term, and a real island off the Far East coast of Russia. Probably, the method that would allow us to avoid unnecessary comments is parallel naming: "on the Tromif—Sakhalin — Island"

There are also other names and images in Siberian folk­lore; such supernatural beings as Морской Старик, Соболиный Хозяин, Боко (Болотный дух), Какзаму-Горный человек, and others. Variants are possible; for example, Соболиный Хозяин may become Chief Sable, or Sable Spirit, or Sable Man or Great Sable. Anyhow, the chosen substitute must match the context, its style and rhythm, as well as the other names and formulas.

To translate Siberian folklore texts means first of all to learn some basic ideas about their cultural peculiarities. In a Siberian folk tale it is important to distinguish the following poetic fea­tures:

1) Its archaic nature;

2) Special names and allusions to places and rites;

3) The colloquial style of the narration.

The archaic roots of the Siberian folklore can be traced in many images and illogical formulas that prove the shamanist and animist nature of the fairy-tale picture of the world. In some tales ancient mythical images appear, such as the celestial brother and sister, cultural heroes, who ride a fair red horse and live in a silver abode close to the sky. Such stories may include many anachro­nisms like guns, paper, tobacco or iron, but their core is the myth of the sun and moon siblings.

Many of the stories deal with animal transformations, when a girl is transformed into a hare, or a boy becomes a bear. Some­times strange motifs appear; such as желтая собака. The word желтая does not simply mean "yellow"; it definitely has a strong symbolic power, as yellow is one of the sacred colours in Siberi­an folklore, and refers to the spirits of earth or, sometimes, of the sun. Anyhow, when any yellow characteristic is present in the text, it introduces there the idea of a mythical hero or rite. A yel­low dog may be a guardian of the sun spirit; but it also may be a sign of a fiery revenge on those who break the law; or it may appear as a shape-shifter, a guide to some sacred place, etc. The colour may be represented by many variants as copper, golden or brimstone — yet they will all be yellow in respect of the functions mentioned above, In translation such a feature is not easy to save, because the association between the yellow colour and its magic and mythical functions is not easily recognised by Europe­an folklore traditions, and the text in translation may seem more illogical than it really is. So in some cases it may be necessary to add either the word "yellow" to some golden or copper coloured objects, or to expand the "yellow" epithet with some additional component, for example, "a yellow

(Magic) dog."

Special names and allusions in Siberian folk tales may be also a problem for translation. When a shaman says, «Я был за большим хребтом Сумбер, » there is no point in looking for such a ridge on a map for «Сумбер» exists only as a magic boundary between the middle and upper worlds in Tuvin folklore.

A tale may begin with the naming of a personage and place, like this: «Давным-давно жила на свете девушка Хонхинур. Она жила на берегу золотого озера, на местности кочковатой». The italicised words are very important symbols and should be taken as allusions to a sacred nature of the place and personage. If we translate it straight, this allusive mythical flavour may disappear: "Once upon a time there lived a girl on the tussocky shore of a golden lake. Her name was Khonkhinur." Such a story may be about any girl and any place, while the read­er should recognise a fairy creature in this initial formula. To pro­vide such recognition, we should transform the names and some features: "Once there was a maiden called Khonkhinur, Jingle Bell. Her abode was on a tussocky shore of a mysterious golden lake." Such a formula will give much more information to the English reader; maiden instead of girl, was instead of lived, and the inclusion of the extra word mysterious joints to the magic nature of both the girl and the lake.

The narrative style of a Siberian folk tale is usually quite colloquial. It is recognisable by such syntactic features as the or­der of words, omitted personal pronouns, partitions, many ellip­tic and exclamatory sentences, phraseological units, etc. Let us consider the beginning of a story:

«В одной деревне три брата жили — Халба, Адунга и Покчо. Два брата охотничий промысел любили, на охоту хо­дили. Ловушки для зверей делать умели. Стрелой белке на лету в глаз попадали. А младший за старших хоронился. Бра­тья на охоту — соболевать. Покчо — за ними. Братья шалаш сделают, огонь разведут. Таежному Хозяину поклонятся, чтобы удача была, — и в тайгу. Покчо в шалаше сидит, кашу иприт, звезды на небе считает, думает: «Вот бы мне столько соболей!»

The rhythm of the narrative in Russian is based on a ski measure, with the stress load stronger to the end of a sentence, translated into regular English; the folk melody will be not there:

"In a village there lived three brothers, Khalba, Adunga and Pokcho. The two elder brothers were true hunters and went hunting very often. They were skilful in making traps and snares and would shoot a squirrel in his eye.

The youngest preferred keep behind them. When the two went sable hunting, Pokcho would follow them. The two hunters would make a cabin т light a fire. They would not forget to pray to the Master oft Forest for luck before going to the taiga. And Pokcho would я in the cabin cooking and counting stars in the sky, thinking, What if I had as much sable!' "

The text in translation becomes smoother, more regal and its rhythmic pattern changes considerably. The only features that show the text to be a piece of exotic folklore are the mm and such realia as "taiga." Thus the emotive value of the text is somewhat reduced. The use of the techniques of partitioning and emphasis is probably useful in such cases. Then the text may air the following form in English:

"In a village there were three brothers called Khalba, Adunga and Pokcho. The two elder brothers loved hunting, and hunting did they go. Ever so skilful in trapping and snaring. In shooting a squirrel right in his eye. The youngest brother hid himself behind them. They went sable hunting — he would go behind them. The two would make a cabin and light a fire. Would pray to the Taiga Man for luck. Then they would enter the Taiga. Pokcho would stay in the cabin, cooking and counting stars in the sq thinking, 'If only I had that amount of the sable!''

The text has become shorter and more expressive, probably more emotive due to the tension caused by the shortened sentences and emphatic structures.

Иллюстративный и раздаточный лекционный материал в разрезе тем дисциплины: словари «Oxford 2006», рефераты по мировой литературе

Список рекомендуемой литературы: Казакова Т.А., Практикум по художественному переводу, С.-Петербург, 2004., Алексеева И.С. Профессиональный тренинг переводчика. С.- Пб, 2004.