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Russian modernism in the translation catacombs and the Petersburg-Leningrad school of poetic translation

https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2022-3-180-208

Abstract

The superstars of the golden age of the 20th-c. Russian artistic translation also happened to be the last representatives of the Russian Silver Age. Their students finalised the principles of the school that managed to overcome the centuries-old conflict between ‘word-for-word’ and ‘idea-for-idea’ translation, i. e., between ‘philologists’ and ‘poets.’ This was achieved through the synthesis of the two seemingly mutually exclusive trends, as championed by Gumilyov in his poetic manifesto claiming that a poetic translation can only be undertaken by a poet who strives to preserve all of the original’s main characteristics. Under the ever-growing pressure of censorship, these poets were forced to concentrate on artistic translation. Their combined creative, aesthetic and poetic energy transformed into translation energy while retaining the merits and potential of the original.

About the Author

V. E. Bagno
Institute of Russian Literature (The Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences; St. Petersburg State University
Russian Federation

Vsevolod E. Bagno Doctor of Philology

4 Makarov Emb., St. Petersburg, 199034; 
7/9 Universitetskaya Emb., St. Petersburg, 199034



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For citations:


Bagno V.E. Russian modernism in the translation catacombs and the Petersburg-Leningrad school of poetic translation. Voprosy literatury. 2022;(3):180-208. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2022-3-180-208

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