A. P. CHEKHOV’S NARRATIVE “A DREARY STORY” IN B. SHLOEZER’S TRANSLATION
The author considers the method of concept analysis as a research tool in literary studies, which could be also used in literary translation. The article states that the concept “dreary” has a dominating role in A. P. Chekhov’s narrative “A Dreary Story”. This concept represents semantic monotony and estrangement, which gradually reveals its existential potential. Therefore a philosophical subtext is logically found in the narrative, but its preservation in a translation is a great challenge for a translator. The author analyses one French version of Chekhov’s narrative. It was written in 1926 by a sociologist, writer, translator, music and literary critic, Boris de Shloezer. He oriented himself to one interpretation of this narrative which was done by a philosopher-existentialist, Lev Shestov. It allowed the translator to communicate a general philosophical idea, an existential tragic element of “A Dreary Story”. Nevertheless he did not pay enough attention to the text structure with its pervaded motives, which are organized by the title concept dreary. As a consequence Shloezer did not succeed in making an adequate French translation of “A Dreary Story”.
Keywords: Chekhov, “A Dreary Story”, concept analysis, translation into the French language, Shloezer
References:
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Issue: 6, 2015
Series of issue: Issue 6
Rubric: RUSSIAN AND FOREIGN LITERATURE OF THE XIX CENTURY
Pages: 179 — 182
Downloads: 818