Apollinaire, G. (2022). Zone. In Russian translations and ‘Russian mirror.’ Ed. By Y. Fridstein and O. Tsareykina. Foreword by N. Zubkov. Moscow: Tsentr knigi Rudomino. (In Russ.)

Abstract

The review examines a publication of the poem ‘Zone,’ which counts among the most famous works by the innovative French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, in the original language and seven Russian translations, two of which were made in 2022 under the auspices of the Pushkin programme funded by the French Institute of the French Embassy in Moscow to promote book publishing. The book’s structure can baffle the reader, just like Apollinaire’s poem does. Opening with a double dedication to the 110th anniversary of the poem’s original publication and the centenary of M. Kudinov’s birth, the book then displays the original French version of ‘Zone,’ followed by the publisher’s colophon. The subsequent sections of the book seem to follow the conventional logic: N. Zubkov’s foreword discusses the unique characteristics of the French poem’s poetics and outlines the key points for a comparative analysis of the translations. The sequence of the printed translations is at odds with their chronological order, a conscious decision made by the publisher. The final section entitled ‘In the Russian mirror’ features insightful comments on the poem offered by distinguished scholars of French poetry such as N. Balashov, S. Velikovsky, Z. Kirnoze, and M. Yasnov.