View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Siberian Federal University Digital Repository Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 5 (2014 7) 834-846 ~ ~ ~ УДК 82.161.1=030 “Strong” Texts of Russian Culture and Centers of Translation Attraction Veronica A. Razumovskaya* Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia Received 15.01.2014, received in revised form 31.01.2014, accepted 18.04.2014 The article is devoted to the emergence of the centers of translation attraction in the result of generation of secondary translation texts by “strong” literary originals. The Russian original text of “Eugene Onegin” and its foreign languages translations, which were created and published in 19-21st centuries, are the research material of the article. The “strong” text is studied from the position of the concept of literocentrism, which is of great importance for the Russian culture, and also by using the relatively new category of translation multiplicity. The combination of literature and translation studies aspects provides the complementary approach towards the under study problem. Keywords: literary translation, center of translation attraction, literocentrism, Russian literature, translation multiplicity, “Eugene Onegin”. Introduction interaction and cultural exchange and this is what Every national culture and, consequently, makes it a literocentric culture. The concept of every national literature has a body of key literary literocentism is in general based on the culture`s texts, providing both: the preservation and further persistent gravity towards the literary and verbal development of its national literary and cultural forms of self-representation (Kondakov 1992), traditions and mutually beneficial cross-cultural on an understanding of literature as a primary interaction and influence of different national storage for core values in a particular cultural cultures and literary traditions. In some cases, community (Lotman 1998), on a special status of it is a set of literary texts that form the core of literary texts in the cultural space. Literocentrism a definite culture, which is a repository and a implies recognition of a particular high status transmitter of cultural information and, most of literature in a definite national culture, an importantly, cultural memory – a special kind of indisputable power of the literary word. cultural information, characterized by an over- individual nature reflecting the most significant Literocentrism of Russian Culture past, common to a particular people, nation, or and its Reflection in “Other” Texts even the majority of humanity (Assmann 1968). A bright example of a literocentric (“text- The core texts contain basic information about centric” by Yu.M. Lotman) culture is the Russian “their” cultures in a situation of intercultural one, although the literocentrism is typical not © Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved * Corresponding author E-mail address: [email protected] – 834 – Veronica A. Razumovskaya. “Strong” Texts of Russian Culture and Centers of Translation Attraction only for this culture but for other cultures around over 20,000 quotations from 3500 authors the world in certain periods of their history belonging to different countries, cultures and (Kondakov 2008). Literocentrism is traditionally eras. In the seventh edition the Russian sources defined as a meta-historical feature of Russian are presented by 184 quotations from 49 authors. culture: the literocentric model was formed in a Among the cited authors the vast majority (29 particular information environment, determined persons) are Russian writers. The dictionary by a specific type of Russian mentality, by includes citations, the authorship of which peculiarities of the Russian character. Being a belongs to the famous Russian prose writers unique phenomenon, literocentrism dominated (A.P. Chekhov, F.M. Dostoevsky, N.V. Gogol, Russian culture for two centuries, from the time A.I. Solzhenitsyn, L.N. Tolstoy, and I.S. Turgenev) of prosperity and the rule of literocentrism (time and poets (A.A. Akhmatova, O.E. Mandelstam, space between Karamzin and Gorky) to its crisis V.V. Mayakovsky, B.L. Pasternak, A.S. Pushkin, and decline. Considering dimensions of the crisis S.A. Yesenin). Citations of Russian authors are of the Russian literocentrism, I.V. Kondakov also represented by political and public figures comes to an important conclusion that the stages of Russia: Alexander II, Catherine the Great, of the crisis reflect such a property of Russian V.I. Lenin, J.V. Stalin, L.D. Trotsky, B.N. Yeltsin, culture as cyclic recurrence (Kondakov 1994). etc. The amount listed in the dictionary of In various cycles of development of Russian quotations from non-literary sources is two culture literary texts traditionally served and are times less than that of literary texts (15). Other serving to the purpose of keeping Russian cultural authors of the included in the edition quotations identity and implementation of intercultural were Russian scientists and people of art exchange between Russian and other cultures (A.D. Sakharov, S.P. Diagilev, I.F. Stravinsky). of the world. Through the texts of A.S. Pushkin, Thus, 75% of all the quotes with Russian cultural F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov, origin in the dictionary were written by writers A.I. Solzhenitsyn and many other representatives and poets, which vividly shows the obvious of the Russian classics “other” cultures try to learn literocentrism of Russian culture (Urzhumova). the “mysterious Russian soul”, to understand the The analysis of portrayals of Russian culture Russian mentality and Russian character, to get in another famous British lexicographical edition acquainted with the peculiarities of Russian life, (fourth edition of the Little Oxford Dictionary to learn the unique phenomena of Russian culture of Quotations – LODQ 2008) also leads to the and Russian history in its significant events since conclusion about the features of the formation of ancient times. Russia’s image in the minds of educated English One of the possible evidences of the speakers (Polubichenko 2010). And one of these inherent literocentrism of Russian culture is features will be a representation of Russian a regular quoting of Russian literary texts in culture predominantly through the Russian texts of “other” cultures, which is reflected literary texts. in special reference publications. Thus, one In ODQ and LODQ quotes of Russian of the largest modern English dictionaries is culture are represented, of course, not in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations – ODQ: the original form of the Russian language, they were first edition was published in 1941 and the last translated into the English version of the form, to date, the seventh – in 2009 (The Oxford which serves as a secondary source (translated Dictionary 2009). The main dictionary contains texts) of Russian literature. – 835 – Veronica A. Razumovskaya. “Strong” Texts of Russian Culture and Centers of Translation Attraction “Strong Texts”, Textual Grids significant literary texts are in the permanent and Literary Translation system of communication and interaction that Russian literature has traditionally been in suggests the existence of a particular text a kind of cultural crossroads between East and system-structural heterogeneous formation West, occupying a special place in the world’s formed by important national literary texts, and cultural and literary space. Russian literary texts by texts that are considered to world cultural are involved into the intensive translation process heritage. A. Lefevere argues that literary texts going “westwards” and “eastwards”, which characterized as cultural heritage, form textual requires effective translation solutions aimed grids within certain cultures; these cultural at preserving cultural information and memory grids are located, according to the researcher, of original texts in the translations created by regardless of language planes of cultures and translators. Translation objectives and strategies are preceded in a certain way to these planes. can be of general and of special character With such features as required artificiality, depending on the cultural and typological features historicity, convention, variability and of languages involved in the translation process. incomprehensibility, textual grids are absorbed I.V. Kondakov notes that one of the features of by the carriers of the “own” culture to such Russian culture in the aspect of cross-cultural an extent that they are perceived as “natural” interaction with the West and the East is a direct (Bassnett, Lefevere 1998: 5). or indirect reflection of this interaction in the texts The concept of “strong text” is comparable of Russian culture and literature, which “tend to with the concept of “absolute picture”. The term lead an intercultural dialogue, the interaction and “absolute picture” was proposed by representatives synthesis of various ethnic and cultural influences of the Moscow conceptual school of art to denote and intentions” (Kondakov 2008: 5). canvases, without which it is impossible to Literary texts that form the core of a imagine the history of art as a wide pan-European particular culture can be defined as “strong” or global culture phenomenon (“Mona Lisa” and texts (Kuzmina 2009). N.A. Kuzmina points “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci, “Sistine out that “strong” texts are known to most