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Re: [NABOKOV-L] Query on Alps, Bera range, Algonquin...Birches
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Jansy/Victor: to see/hear the Birch Tree Cliché in Soviet Realistic excess,
dig the Red Army Choir¹s folksy rendition:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SKC4M0dQ8AE&NR=1
My cynical Polish ex-wife Iwonka (lest we forget) wondered if this clip was
filmed in the KATYN Forest, before, during, or after the Massacre?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre
Jansy: Nabokov is RIGHT about the ESSENTIAL equivalence of ALL NLs (Natural
Languages). Whatever can be imagined & expressed in one NL can be imagined &
expressed in any other NL. This axiom essentially DEFINES what an NL is!
(Space precludes, as they say! Google Chomsky [cautiously!] and the
now-rejected Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.)
When we ³translate,² i.e., re-imagine & re-express any text from NL-A to
NL-B, there¹s NO RULE connecting the LENGTH and ACCURACY of the resulting
translation! The B-versions may be shorter or longer than A¹s depending on
their respective grammatical and lexical structures. You draw the wrong
conclusions from the fact that Nabokov¹s Onegin ³translation² takes 4
volumes. You take this as evidence of some transcendental chasm between
PushkinSpeak and English. BUT, what Nabokov gives us is a detailed
(super-heroic) historical commentary on Pushkin¹s chosen words, phrases,
idioms and prosody. Much of this background is, in fact, also essential to
the majority of contemporary Russian speakers, separated by time & kultur
from 18th century usages. Modern English readers face the same problem with
Shakespeare. The fact is that modern editions of Shakespeare with their
detailed footnotes and glosses offer ³translations² from one NL
(Elizabethan English) to another (Modern English).
Truly ³deep² and creative bi-fluency is rare enough to be treasured, and
REWARDED. Let¹s not begrudge a mere $40 for ³Verses and Versions² provided
Brian Boyd, Stanislav Shvabrin and the VN-Estate get a fair share.
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 07/12/2008 17:39, "NABOKV-L" <NABOKV-L@HOLYCROSS.EDU> wrote:
> Dear Jansy:
>
> "I once read that one could know a Russian writer by his reference to
> sparkling snow and birch-trees. "
>
> Oh, but this is such a classical example of clicheed poshlust!
> Just add some troika sleighs and vodka shots...
>
> Just for fun, I searched now to find a single birch in the urbanite
> Dostoyevsky - and sure enough, in part I of "Brothers Karamazov" Fyodor
> Pavlovich declares "The strength of Russia is in the birch" - but what he
> means are "rozgi", i.e. birch rods used for a popular corporal punishment
> (children as well as adults!).
> These were known also as "birch porridge" ("berezovaya kasha").
> I bet Dostoyevsky had little use for sparkling snow either.
>
> Alpine landscapes in VN are similar to his childhood's landscapes near St
> Petersburg not only because of their snow, but also because both include
> conifer (fir) forest as main part of vegetation (what we call
> landscape-forming species).
> In northern Russia, such vegetation is "zonal" (latitudinal) but in more
> southern areas it is found only as an atitudinal zone ("belt") in the
> mountains, such as Alps and Rockies, roughly starting from 1500-2000 m. But I
> do not think there are any nostalgic birches in this picture.
>
> Victor Fet
>
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dig the Red Army Choir¹s folksy rendition:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SKC4M0dQ8AE&NR=1
My cynical Polish ex-wife Iwonka (lest we forget) wondered if this clip was
filmed in the KATYN Forest, before, during, or after the Massacre?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre
Jansy: Nabokov is RIGHT about the ESSENTIAL equivalence of ALL NLs (Natural
Languages). Whatever can be imagined & expressed in one NL can be imagined &
expressed in any other NL. This axiom essentially DEFINES what an NL is!
(Space precludes, as they say! Google Chomsky [cautiously!] and the
now-rejected Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.)
When we ³translate,² i.e., re-imagine & re-express any text from NL-A to
NL-B, there¹s NO RULE connecting the LENGTH and ACCURACY of the resulting
translation! The B-versions may be shorter or longer than A¹s depending on
their respective grammatical and lexical structures. You draw the wrong
conclusions from the fact that Nabokov¹s Onegin ³translation² takes 4
volumes. You take this as evidence of some transcendental chasm between
PushkinSpeak and English. BUT, what Nabokov gives us is a detailed
(super-heroic) historical commentary on Pushkin¹s chosen words, phrases,
idioms and prosody. Much of this background is, in fact, also essential to
the majority of contemporary Russian speakers, separated by time & kultur
from 18th century usages. Modern English readers face the same problem with
Shakespeare. The fact is that modern editions of Shakespeare with their
detailed footnotes and glosses offer ³translations² from one NL
(Elizabethan English) to another (Modern English).
Truly ³deep² and creative bi-fluency is rare enough to be treasured, and
REWARDED. Let¹s not begrudge a mere $40 for ³Verses and Versions² provided
Brian Boyd, Stanislav Shvabrin and the VN-Estate get a fair share.
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 07/12/2008 17:39, "NABOKV-L" <NABOKV-L@HOLYCROSS.EDU> wrote:
> Dear Jansy:
>
> "I once read that one could know a Russian writer by his reference to
> sparkling snow and birch-trees. "
>
> Oh, but this is such a classical example of clicheed poshlust!
> Just add some troika sleighs and vodka shots...
>
> Just for fun, I searched now to find a single birch in the urbanite
> Dostoyevsky - and sure enough, in part I of "Brothers Karamazov" Fyodor
> Pavlovich declares "The strength of Russia is in the birch" - but what he
> means are "rozgi", i.e. birch rods used for a popular corporal punishment
> (children as well as adults!).
> These were known also as "birch porridge" ("berezovaya kasha").
> I bet Dostoyevsky had little use for sparkling snow either.
>
> Alpine landscapes in VN are similar to his childhood's landscapes near St
> Petersburg not only because of their snow, but also because both include
> conifer (fir) forest as main part of vegetation (what we call
> landscape-forming species).
> In northern Russia, such vegetation is "zonal" (latitudinal) but in more
> southern areas it is found only as an atitudinal zone ("belt") in the
> mountains, such as Alps and Rockies, roughly starting from 1500-2000 m. But I
> do not think there are any nostalgic birches in this picture.
>
> Victor Fet
>
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/