Subject
Fw: The Russian Lolita
From
Date
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Dane Gill" <pennyparkerpark@hotmail.com>
) ------------------
> Here's a question for those of you that speak/read both Russian and
English:
> Is there anything lost in the Russian translation of Lolita? I understand
> that there is always something amiss when a piece of work is translated,
and
> I have read both here and elsewhere that Nabokov's Russian novels are best
> read in their original language. However,as it was Nabokov himself that
did
> the translation of Lolita is the lost cut to minimum, or does Nabokov's
> literal translating practices (a la Eugene Onegin) convert Lolita into a
> mere shade (only a fan of Nabokov would use "shade" instead of "shadow"
> here) of its former self? I once read the opening lines to the Russian
> version typed using non-Rusian letters (forgive me for not using the
proper
> term here) and as I recall the instructonal Lo-lee-ta pronounciation and
> description of the tongue's journey as Lolita's name is said was
completely
> different (more than likely, memory has failed me on this note). This is a
> mere curiousity of mine, as I never plan I reading Russian - 10 years of
> half hearted French schooling and I can hardly scrape through a paragraph
of
> Proust, I can't imagine myself even attempting to learn Russian well
enough
> to read Nabokov - so please feel free to treat it as such. Thank you
----------------------------
EDCOMMENT. Sure. Some things are lost in the Russian --- and some gained.
Even in the hands of a consumate bilingual like VN the same work is
different in each language even over and above deliberately altered bits.
Each language has its own range of associations tied to different roots and
sounds so the English and Russian readers will make different associations.
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*
> http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
>
From: "Dane Gill" <pennyparkerpark@hotmail.com>
) ------------------
> Here's a question for those of you that speak/read both Russian and
English:
> Is there anything lost in the Russian translation of Lolita? I understand
> that there is always something amiss when a piece of work is translated,
and
> I have read both here and elsewhere that Nabokov's Russian novels are best
> read in their original language. However,as it was Nabokov himself that
did
> the translation of Lolita is the lost cut to minimum, or does Nabokov's
> literal translating practices (a la Eugene Onegin) convert Lolita into a
> mere shade (only a fan of Nabokov would use "shade" instead of "shadow"
> here) of its former self? I once read the opening lines to the Russian
> version typed using non-Rusian letters (forgive me for not using the
proper
> term here) and as I recall the instructonal Lo-lee-ta pronounciation and
> description of the tongue's journey as Lolita's name is said was
completely
> different (more than likely, memory has failed me on this note). This is a
> mere curiousity of mine, as I never plan I reading Russian - 10 years of
> half hearted French schooling and I can hardly scrape through a paragraph
of
> Proust, I can't imagine myself even attempting to learn Russian well
enough
> to read Nabokov - so please feel free to treat it as such. Thank you
----------------------------
EDCOMMENT. Sure. Some things are lost in the Russian --- and some gained.
Even in the hands of a consumate bilingual like VN the same work is
different in each language even over and above deliberately altered bits.
Each language has its own range of associations tied to different roots and
sounds so the English and Russian readers will make different associations.
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*
> http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
>