Discussion questions. 1.What is, according to Jakobson, the Gordian knot of translation?

1.What is, according to Jakobson, the Gordian knot of translation?

2.Outline the ways Jakobson discredits the dogma of untranslatability.

3. What is “creative transposition” and how is it applicable for conveying the device of paronomasia that “reigns over poetic art”?

4.Consider Jakobson’s concept of intersemiotic transposition.

5.Compare Jakobson’s statement that “any assumption of ineffable or untranslatable cognitive data would be a contradiction in terms” and Nabokov’s concept of translatability.

6.Why does Jakobson consider that “equivalence in difference” is the cardinal question of language? How do you understand his motivations?

7. Explain the formula “traduttore, traditore” and develop your biased discussion within the context of the critical works, which are included in the textbook.

8. Write a short essay considering the main trends in the developing the concept of translatability as it is manifested in the articles included in the textbook.

9. Trace the resonance of the ideas expressed in these articles in contemporary translation theories.

10.What are your own thoughts on the limits of translation?

1.2. TRANSLATION CRITICISM: DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment 1.

Read the original text (Byron’s poem and all translations that follow the assignments) and write an interlinear philological translation comparing it with my sample:

1. Солнце неспящих! печальная звезда!

2. Чей полный слёз луч тлеет /едва виден/ в дрожащей вышине,

3. Так показываешь ты тьму, которую не сможешь рассеять

4. Как похожа ты на радость, так хорошо запомнившуюся!

5. Так мерцает прошлое, свет того дня,

6. Который горит, но не согревает своими бессильными лучами:

7. Скорбь ночная бодрствует, чтобы смотреть на /самой освещать/,

8. Отчётливое, но далёкое, - ясное, но холодное!

Assignment 2.

Read two variants of I. Kozlov’s translation and consider the types of translations.

How is “genre thinking” typical of the century manifested in the translations? Comment on the substitution of “звезда" by "луна". Consider the poetic function of Russian “dolnik” and its substitution in translation. Does it effect the emotional dominant of the poem? Discuss onomatopoetic alliteration and creative transformation with reference to Jakobson’s observation on the issue.

What is the difference between “free imitation” and translation proper?

Assignment 3.

Comment on the equivalency of A. K. Toltoy’s translation. What new lyrical tone is introduced and how does it change the impact of the original? Consider the translation of “ tearful” by "слезно". Does it change the atmosphere of emotional restraint that is predominant in the poem. Do not forget that the concept of poetry as an emotion recollected in tranquility is one of the artistic discoveries of Romanticism. Why is it so important to preserve in translation the connective words (whose, which, that, how, so)? What happens when they are disregarded by the translators?

Assignment 4.

A.Fet is known as an advocate of translational literalism. Do you agree that his translation of Byron’s poem “Sun of the sleepless” is the literal translation? What is the unit of translation: word, sentence, or text? The distortion of the original is vivid in the very first line of the translation. Consider the change in the stylistic and genre register of the poem. What is added to the artistic idea of the poem by the stylistic transformation (metaphor - metonymy)?

Assignment 5.

S.Marshak is one of the best representatives of the Russian school of free literary translation. Consider what types of translation transformations Marshak resorts to for achieving adequate translation. Comment on his images «дрожит» and «влажный луч» and compare them with A.K.Tolstoy’s translation substitution: «как слезно луч мерцает твой всегда».

Considering the problems discussed, agree or disagree and provide your motivation to the statement favored by the deconstructivists that language is always in the process of modifying the original text, of deferring and displacing for ever any possibility of grasping that which the original text desired to name.[12]

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