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2
DOI: 10.24412/2470-1262-2024-3-5-15 УДК (UDC) 81'23
Vassili V. Bouilov University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland Буйлов Василий В., Университет Восточной Финляндии / UEF,
Йоэнсуу, Финляндия
For citation: Bouilov Vassili V. (2024). Analytical and Attributive Constructions as Important Syntactic and Stylistic Means of Andrei Platonov's Idiostyle and their Translation into English. Cross-Cultural Studies: Education and Science, Vol. 9, Issue 3 (2024), pp. 5-15 (in USA)
Manuscript received 21/10/2024 Accepted for publication: 24/11/2024
The author has read and approved the final manuscript.
CC BY 4.0
ANALYTICAL AND ATTRIBUTIVE CONSTRUCTIONS AS IMPORTANT SYNTACTIC-STYLISTIC MEANS OF ANDREY PLATONOV'S IDIOSTYLE AND THEIR TRANSLATION INTO
ENGLISH
АНАЛИТИЧЕСКИЕ И АТРИБУТИВНЫЕ КОНСТРУКЦИИ КАК ВАЖНЫЕ СИНТАКТИКО-СТИЛИСТИЧЕСКИЕ СРЕДСТВА ИДИОСТИЛЯ АНДРЕЯ ПЛАТОНОВА И ИХ ПЕРЕВОД НА
АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК
Abstract:
When considering Andrei Platonov's language at the syntactic level, a pattern can be traced associated with the purely Platonov's use of various syntactic constructions, acting as individual author's syntactic means of increasing linguistic expressiveness. The syntax of speech of Platonov's characters is characterized by using personal, generalized personal and impersonal constructions. Platonov achieves the multidimensional associativity of a phrase not only through the stylistically traditional use of such syntactic means as inversion, parcellation, elliptical constructions, turns, anaphora, anticipation, but also through the specific Platonov's use of analytical and attributive constructions. As a result of these author's semantic-syntactic transformations, new meaning-making syntactic formations, enriched with many connotations, are obtained that have arisen contrary to linguistic norms. This, in turn, poses the problem of transmitting the entire range of stylistic and semantic features of the author's mostly non-conventional intratextual elements when translating Platonov's text into a foreign language.
Keywords:
Andrei Platonov's idiostyle, translation strategy, foreignization, analytism and synthetism, synthetic forms, analytical and attributive constructions, the method of semantic shift, hidden predicativity, the shift of the attribute value into neighboring semantic zones, occasional formations, linguacultural adaptation, substitution of equivalent, ideological clichés, Utopia, Anti-Utopia/ Dystopia, Novoyaz, quasi-language of Utopia, the literary collision of Utopia and AntiUtopia, allegoricality, duality, implicativity of Platonov's text, literary translation as intercultural project
Аннотация:
При рассмотрении языка Андрея Платонова на синтаксическом уровне прослеживается закономерность, связанная с чисто платоновским употреблением различных синтаксических конструкций, выступающих в качестве индивидуально-авторских синтаксических средств повышения языковой экспрессивности. Для синтаксиса речи платоновских персонажей является характерным использование неопределённо-личных, обобщённо-личных и безличных конструкций. Платонов добивается многомерной ассоциативности фразы не только при помощи стилистически традиционного использования таких синтаксических средств, как инверсия, парцелляция, эллиптические конструкции, повороты, анафора, антиципация, но и при помощи специфического платоновского применения аналитических и атрибутивных конструкций. В результате этих авторских семантико-синтаксических трансформаций получаются новые, возникшие вопреки языковым нормам смыслообразующие синтаксические образования, обогащенные многими коннотациями. Это, в свою очередь, ставит проблему передачи всего спектра стилистических и семантических особенностей авторских, в основном, неконвенциональных внутритекстовых элементов при переводе платоновского текста на иностранный язык.
Ключевые слова:
Идиостиль Андрея Платонова, стратегия перевода, форенизация, аналитизм и синтетизм, синтетические формы, аналитические и атрибутивные конструкции, метод семантического сдвига, скрытая предикативность, смещение значения признака в соседние семантические зоны, окказиональные образования, лингвокультурная адаптация, подмена эквивалента, идеологические клише, Утопия, Антиутопия/Дистопия, Новояз; квазиязык Утопии; литературное столкновение Утопии и Антиутопии; аллегоричность, двойственность, импликативность текста Платонова, художественный перевод как межкультурный проект
Introduction
The research material in this article is the text of Andrei Platonov's story The Foundation Pit and the text of the very first translation of this short novel into English, carried out in 1973 by Thomas P. Whitney. The original text is quoted from the source: [8]. The English translation of the story is quoted from the source: [9].
In addition to the need for a multidimensional understanding of the internal artistic and stylistic space of a particular literary work, when working with Platonov's text, the translator is faced with the task of choosing a certain method of transmitting the author's coded artistic information through the search for the most acceptable translation option. [1, p. 19; 2, p. 7).
Carrying out in the article a partial lingua-translatological analysis of Thomas Whitney's translation of Andrei Platonov's sort novel The Foundation Pit, it should be recognized that in any business it is always difficult to be a pioneer. This is especially true for such a complex translation endeavor and cultural and professional challenge as the very first translation into English of this key work of an outstanding writer.
In this context, Whitney's translation - in the absence of previous translations and any translation decisions and strategy for working with The Foundation Pit - deserves special attention.
In the preface to the publication of the translation of The Foundation Pit by Ann Arbor Publishing House in 1973 [8], Thomas Whitney is introduced as an experienced translator of Russian literature who worked in the Soviet Union for many years as a diplomat and a correspondent. Among his most important publications are two major anthologies The New Writing in Russia [13] and The Young Russians [14], his book Russia in My Life [12], as well as his English translations of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's novel In the First Circle [11], the memoirs of dissident General Pyotr Grigorenko Only Rats [5] and Yuri Orlov's book Dangerous Thoughts. Memoirs from Russian Life" [6]. [2, p. 6]
Preface to the publication of this translation of The Foundation Pit was written by Joseph Brodsky [8]. Joseph Brodsky warmly supported the already experienced translator Thomas Whitney with his name and participation in this literary, translation and intercultural project, and by being directly involved in the preparatory and editorial work, he did everything in his power to ensure the success of this publication. Therefore, in addition to all the above-mentioned objective circumstances, the active participation of Joseph Brodsky in this translation project was the defining moment in choosing Thomas Whitney's translation as the material for the translation studies presented here.
Discussion
Analytical constructions
One of the most effective means of increasing linguistic expressiveness included in Andrei Platonov's creative arsenal is his author's occasional analytical constructions, that is, syntactic formations in which analytism is opposed to synthetism. Platonov's creation of syntactic analytical new formations is of an occasional nature and is manifested in the separate expression of the lexical and grammatical meanings of a word. Using analytical constructions in contexts that involve the use of synthetic forms, the writer plays up the clichéd speech of representatives of the party-administrative elite class:
- Вам, товарищ Жачев, я полагаю, уже достаточно бросать свои выражения и
пора всецело подчиниться производству руководства. [9, p. 47]
«You've already done enough of throwing about your expressions, I would suppose,
Comrade Zhachev, and it's time wholly to submit to the production of the leadership».
[8, p. 63]
[In all subsequent individual quotes, highlighted in italics, bold italics are introduced by
the author of the article - V.B.]
Whitney's literal translation does not conform to the norms of the English language. The analytical construction бросать свои выражения is translated literally as throwing about your expressions, which can be assessed as the fact that the translator has revived the author's analytical formation with an adequate transfer of its structure and the transmission through this structure of the deliberate artificiality of the character's speech while maintaining the connotative and emotional effect of this speech.
In the next fragment, Platonov, as in the previous example, continues to play up the manner of conversation characteristic of the ideological characters of The Foundation Pit with standard speech patterns inherent in Soviet society and clichéd constructions of Soviet everyday use. In accordance with the norms of the Russian language, instead of saying author's occasional tongue-tied сказать ответ, the form ответить should be used here,
but Platonov deliberately introduces an unconventional analytical construction сказать ответ to create a connotation of the unnaturalness of the character's speech:
Жачев хотел сказать Сафронову ответ <...> [9, p. 43]
Zhachev wished to tell Safronov his answer <...> [8, p. 56]
From the point of view of the norms of the Russian language, the synthetic form ответить is the only possible option here, i.e. ответить instead of сказать ответ. Platonov's lingua-stylistic play of words use in this speech context of the analytical construction сказать ответ gives rise to a connotation of bureaucratic tone, clichedness, falsity, tension, and "stiltiness" of the character's way of speaking.
Whitney's translation fully complies with the norms of the English language. All connotations that arise when reading and perceiving the original Platonov's text, disappear, since the use of analytical constructions in English, which itself is an analytical language, is normative.
In the following example, the phrase произнести слово is characterized by stylistic markedness which is a characteristic of the officious style. The analytical form произнести слово introduces into the text an increased stylistic expressiveness of high style and official communication, which is inappropriate in the context of the everyday situation described by Platonov:
Урод хотел произнести свое слово в окно <...> [9, p. 34]
The cripple wished to enunciate his word through the window <... > [8, p. 39]
This inconsistency with the situation and the formal, official tone of out-of-place speech etiquette strengthens the general impression of falsely understood rules of decency by Platonov's characters, who look here at least unnatural. Therefore, Platonov's setting in the text of a high-style construction произнести свое слово next to the noun of reduced stylistic coloring урод, used to contemptuously name the subject of this action, in a trivial everyday context gives the whole phrase a sharp ironic sound.
The translation does not comply with the norms of the English language. The translator, by analogy with the original, plays on the clash of different styles.
Перевод не соответствует нормам английского языка. Переводчик по аналогии с оригиналом играет на столкновении разных стилей. Thus, the denotative meanings of the verb to enunciate - хорошо произносить, с/формулировать [10, p. 319] and the noun cripple - калека, инвалид [10, p. 299] enter into a stylistic contradiction, creating, from the point of view of the English language, an emphatically strained a phrase characterized by a dramatic mixture of styles. And this precisely meets the goals of translation in conveying the author's expressive intention.
Below are presented only four illustrative examples of analytical constructions, based on the syntactically analytical model of which many other similar combinations are built, which the writer uses with amazing consistency throughout the entire text of the story. The components of the following 4 non-traditional Platonov's analytical constructions disjointly express a single member of the sentence - the predicate. Speaking in a certain context, non-traditional Platonov's analytical formations grotesquely reveal the mechanically rehearsed, puppet-impulsive, unconsciously aggressive nature of the actions of "normalized" (Platonov's own expression introduced in The Foundation Pit) characters, evoking the connotation of politically motivated cruelty and thereby helping to recreate the atmosphere of naturalistic and institutionally prescribed cruelty not ceasing class struggle:
Вощев подошел к подкулачнику и сделал удар в его лицо. [9, p. 64]
Voshchev went up to the prokulak and hit him hard in the face. [8, p. 95]
The translation complies with the standards of the English language. In translation, the original connotation of the original is completely lost.
- Нечаянно! - произнес Чиклин и сделал мужику удар в лицо, чтобы он стал жить сознательно. [9, p. 60]
<...> Chiklin <...> struck the yellow-eyed peasant a blow in the face to make him begin to live politically aware. [8, p. 88]
Whitney's translation does not conform to the norms of the English language. The whole structure is artificial - it sounds strange, but it works.
Чиклин, не колебнувшись корпусом, сделал попу сознательный удар в скуло. [9, p. 69]
Chiklin, without a quaver of his torso gave the priest a conscientious blow on his cheek bone. [8, p. 103]
Whitney's translation does not conform to the norms of the English language. The sentence sounds strange and evokes connotations of naturalistic and institutionally prescribed cruelty, thus maintaining the connotation of the original.
Далее Чиклин покойно дал активисту ручной удар в грудь <...> [9, p. 91] Thereupon Chiklin calmly gave the activist a blow with his fist in the chest <...> [8, p. 146]
Whitney's translation follows the norms of the English language. At the same time, in the translation there is a certain ambiguity in the reference of the phrase his fist in the chest, which gives rise to ambiguity. The construction <...> дал активисту ручной удар в грудь in the proposed translation gave the activist a blow with his fist in the chest may be mistakenly perceived by the English-speaking reader in a slightly different sense, translated in Russian as "with a fist pressed to one's own chest".
And after all this hopelessness of the class struggle that was heard in the previous fragments of the text of The Foundation Pit and the civil war that has not yet ended in the bitter hearts of people, Platonov in the next passage turns to the most important existential and general philosophical question of spirituality - the Essence of Life, Eternal Verity, The substance of Existence. Жизнь/Life here for Platonov is a spiritualized physical substance, which, like spiritual material, like a living Substance of Existence, must be nurtured, cultivated, put everybody's entire being into it - много надо её иметь.
<... > ещё много надо иметь жизнь <...> [9, p. 25]
<...> it was necessary to have much more of a very long life <...> [8, p. 22]
Whitney's translation does not conform to the norms of the English language. The sentence in translation sounds very strange and in a very Platonov's way, because it's impossible иметь больше (to have much more) of already очень длинной жизни (of a very long life). The translation here is carried out descriptively and with a partial displacement of the original meaning of the original, but at the same time it is an example of successful stylization to suit Platonov's language.
Speaking about Platonov's original, we can assume the the author's use in this context of the verb of the corresponding meaning жить/to live would not entirely correspond to Platonov's intention. It is not enough for Platonov to limit himself to stating the fact that "one has to live a lot" to achieve something in this life and understand its meaning.
Using the occasional analytical construction иметь жизнь, Platonov tries in this short passage to express the idea that everything in this world, including life, "надо иметь",
what means in Platonov's mind - "must be conquered". That Platonov's approach is about the cruelty of Nature and the extreme drama of Human Existence, which consists of a constant struggle for survival.
Platonov's search for Verity of Existence means a mortal struggle with Nature hostile to a Human Being, without which life would not be possible, a struggle with a hidden world that keeps in its darkness Eternal Verity of Existence, difficult to comprehend for human consciousness. Overcoming the difficulties and obstacles created by Nature, Human Being is forced to conquer, take, receive the Life from Nature using his own strength and perseverance. This is just one of the possible connotations, suggesting a philosophical reading of the analyzed occasional phrase.
Platonov's vision of Life can be confirmed by judgments about the essence of the relationship between Life and Nature, belonging to N.F. Fedorov, whose works had the most direct and fundamental influence on the formation of Platonov's philosophical concept:
The less a person received from nature the ability to preserve life, the more mortal he was, the more strongly he felt this and the more he had the urge to perform independently. A person's defenselessness expressed and reflected his peacemaking purpose, just as creative power was foreshadowed in his deprivation and nakedness. [4, p. 515]
Nature, a temporary enemy, will be an eternal friend when in the hands of the sons of men it turns from a blind, destructive force into a creative one. The task of the sons of men is the restoration of life, and not just the elimination of death. [4, p. 521]
Thus, Andrei Platonov's occasional analytical constructions, depending on the situation, often acquire an expanded, generalized meaning. They can have an air of formality or high style. They often carry a deep, general philosophical meaning. The problem of literary translation of Platonov's analytical constructions into English is that in English the use of analytical constructions is normative and conventional and does not necessarily entail the appearance of any expected new meanings and impressive connotative extensions, as in the case of non-conventional use of analytical constructions in the Russian language.
Attributive constructions
Andrei Platonov deliberately introduces many radical semantic and syntactic deformations into the text. It should be especially noted that the meaning-forming linguistic structures of the text of "The Foundation Pit", which are difficult for spontaneous perception, due to their unusualness or even obvious illogicality, are not always able to evoke the connotations intended by the author even among native speakers of the Russian language. The degree of readiness to perceive and understand Platonov's text largely depends on the general erudition of the reader, on the level of his emotionality, on the degree of his inclusion in the special world of Platonov, inaccessible to superficial perception.
In attributive constructions, the lexical-semantic functioning of which is usually determined by the identification of qualitative or relative non-procedural features of objects and events, Platonov actualizes such properties of attributive relations as hidden predicativity and semantic mobility, allowing the shift of the attribute value into neighboring semantic zones. This technique allows the writer to create his own occasional formations:
Около кузни висел на плетне возглас, нарисованный по флагу: «За партию, за верность ей, за ударный труд, пробивающий пролетариату двери в будущее <...>» [9, p. 86]
Next to the smithy hung a slogan on a banner: "For the Party, for loyalty to it, for shock labour which is breaking open the door into the future for the proletariat <...>" [8, p. 136] ' '
In this fragment of the text of The Foundation Pit it is possible to observe the specially interesting manifestation of Platonov's linguistic intuition. In the construction ударный труд, the internal form of the adjective ударный is revived, which contributes to the semantic expansion and actualization of the hidden predicativity of this verb-motivated adjective. It begins to appear in its original, direct, predicative function. Ударный труд literally begins to "strike", "punch through" the doors to the future for the proletariat/Ударный труд буквально начинает «ударять», «ударами пробивать» пролетариату двери в будущее пролетариату двери в будущее.
Whitney's translation of this fragment does not comply with the norms of the English language and was carried out verbatim in violation of the norms of lexical compatibility in the target language. At the same time, Platonov's source text also does not correspond to the norms of the Russian language. Here Whitney reproduces the same grammatical model that Platonov uses in his text for the grammatical implementation of his author's pragmatic intention, and which is based on the actualization of the construction shock labor - to break open. Thus, the translator's use of a literal translation leads to a complete reconstruction of the features of the poetics of utopia in the translated text.
The poetics of utopia is characterized in the source and translated texts by an artificial and stylistically incorrect mixture of cliches and high-style words the door into the future. This allows the translation to reflect the emotional illogicality of Soviet propaganda slogans while preserving the connotations of the original. This also helps to recreate in translation the characteristic features of Platonov's idiostyle, as well as to convey in it the author's critical and ironic interpretation of the quasi-language of utopia.
In the following fragment, the phrase политические трупы means тела погибших по политическим мотивам людей. These are not at all heroically killed representatives of the authorities, whose death does not evoke pity among those around them. Moreover, it doesn't even evoke any feelings other than disgust. The collocation политические трупы appears here in its first direct denotative meaning, determined by the internal forms of its constituent components.
Ступай сторожить политические трупы от зажиточного бесчестья <...> [9,
p. 58]
Go on over to guard the political corpses from being dishonored by the kulaks <...> [8,
p. 84]
In parallel with this interpretation, the second, normative figurative meaning, which underlies the usual, i.e., is updated in it, corresponding to the generally accepted use of the phraseological unit political corpses, used for the metaphorical nomination of потерпевших фиаско или вышедших в тираж политиков. An effect of ambiguity arises. they are трупы in the literal sense and they are also политические трупы (in Platonov's sense, упущенцы), who failed the political repressive campaign for collectivization in the countryside, which corresponds to the context of The Foundation Pit.
The translation of this fragment was carried out without observing the norms of the English language. The phrase политические трупы is translated literally by Whitney as the political corpses. The difficulty of perceiving this stable phraseological construction for native English speakers is that in English the attributive construction the political corpses is not a phraseological unit, but in the Russian language the collocation политические трупы is a stable phraseological unit. Without the transfer of Platonov's intention, realized in the original through the expansion of the associative-connotative space provided for by the
semantics of this phraseological unit, its translation can serve as a clear example of alienating translation. In the translation, only the first Platonov's connotative meaning of the attributive construction политические трупы - the political corpses is actualized, which speaks of телах погибших по политическим мотивам людей/of the bodies of people who died for political reasons.
The actualization of hidden predicativity and semantic mobility in the attributive constructions мёртвое оружие, мёртвый инвентарь with the participation of the attribute мёртвый also allows Platonov to achieve in them a shift in the meaning of the attribute to adjacent semantic zones with the expansion of their connotative-semantic and expressive-stylistic content. In the occasional (that is, non-usual, not corresponding to generally accepted usage) attributive construction мёртвое оружие with the attribute мёртвый the author's unconventional expansion of the semantic compatibility of the adjective мёртвый is associative: the semantics of the subject or object of death is transferred to a tool, and specifically, to оружие/a weapon with which violent death occurs:
- Что ты! ответил Чиклин. - Я сроду не касался человека мёртвым оружием: как же я тогда справедливость почувствую? [9, p. 91]
«Of course not!» answered Chiklin. «I have never yet in my life touched a man with a dead weapon: how then could I feel justice?» [жирный курсив наш - В.Б.] [8, p. 146]
The attribute dead carries hidden predicativity with an active attribute meaning: мёртвое оружие, that is, убивающее, несущее смерть/a killing weapon, bringing death. Whitney's translation of this passage of text does not conform to the norms of the English language. At the same time, there is a strong feeling that he is seeking here the adequacy of the translation not only at the formal, linguistic level, but also at the connotative-semantic level, since in the translation of this fragment it is permissible to actualize the connotation associated with the killing ability/ с убивающей способностью of this weapon.
The conventional (usual, corresponding to generally accepted use) attributive construction мёртвый инвентарь with the attribute мёртвый is used by Platonov in accordance with the norm for nominating items of household equipment/предметов хозяйственного оборудования [7, p. 249]. Its meaning comes from the fusion of the lexical meanings вещественный/ substantial and мертвый/dead due to the presence of the seme неодушевленность/inanimateness in both meanings. However, in the context of class struggle and hatred in The Foundation Pit, where people's lives pass alongside weapons, murders, death and coffins, dead equipment as a stylistically neutral terminological phrase begins to acquire an additional negative connotative and semantic connotation caused by the implicit actualization of the semantics of the attribute мёртвый/dead:
<...> члены колхоза починили всякий мёртвый инвентарь <...> [9, p. 89] The collective farm members <...> repaired all of the stock <...> [8, p. 141]
The translation of this construction was carried out by Whitney in accordance with the norms of the English language. The attributive construction of the original мертвый инвентарь/dead stock is transmitted by the method of linguacultural adaptation through the substitution of the terminological equivalent the stock, which appears in translation in its denotative meaning. Naturally, nothing remains in the translation from the additional negative connotation of the original associated with the attribute мёртвый/dead.
The same conventional attributive construction мёртвый инвентарь/dead inventory with the attribute мёртвый/dead is used in The Foundation Pit and in another special Platonov's context, which may seem unusual, and probably even psychologically difficult for natural perception, repulsive, since the construction мертвый инвентарь occasionally becomes in The Foundation Pit the Platonov's author's paraphrase of the word гроб/coffin:
Эта же конвенциональная атрибутивная конструкция мертвый инвентарь с атрибутом мертвый употребляется в «Котловане» и в ином особом платоновском контексте, который может показаться необычным, и вероятно, даже психологически тяжелым для естественного восприятия, отталкивающим, поскольку конструкция мертвый инвентарь окказионально становится в «Котловане» платоновской авторской перифразой слова гроб:
<...> Нам не хватает мертвого инвентаря... Мы те гробы по самообложению заготовили, не отымай нажитого! [9, p. 53]
«We are lacking in dead inventory... We got those coffins through self-taxation, don't take away from us what we have earned!» [8, p. 74]
In the name of recreating in The Foundation Pit the artistic truth about the horrors of life in the Russian village during the era of collectivization, Platonov finds an allegorical, capacious use for the attributive construction of мёртвый инвентарь/dead equipment, using it in a completely different sense and context. Гроб/coffin as an object in which мёртвое тело/dead body should be located, metaphorically begins to be determined by the attribute of this body. There occurs an associative metonymic transfer of the semantics of the dead body/мёртвое тело, which had the animation of the subject, onto inanimate objects, such as гробы/coffins. Thanks to this transfer of meaning in constructions like «мертвый в гробуя/''dead in a coffin", the locative formally becomes the owner of the characteristics of an actant: мертвый инвентарь — мертвый гроб/dead inventory — dead coffin. A syncretic merger of semas мертвое и содержащее мертвое/dead and containing the dead occurs which gives born to the connotative and semantic polysemy.
Thomas Whitney's translation of this fragment of text does not comply with the norms of the English language. Absurd from the point of view of the norms of lexical compatibility, the attributive construction dead inventory is a literal translation through phraseological caique of the attributive collocation of the original мертвый инвентарь. Used in such a context, it acquires the same expansive connotative meaning as the original combination of words. The translation achieves its goal as much as possible, which is its real success.
Conclusion
Attributive constructions are one of the productive linguistic sources for the formation of Andrei Platonov's individual style. By creating his own attributive constructions, he artistically plays up their inherent semantic flexibility and hidden predicaty. As a result of expanding the semantics and valence of the components of the combination of words, the overall linguistic expressiveness of the text increases, which provides the author with additional material to enhance the connotative and associative imagery of the narrative.
Without the translator's acceptance of Platonov's rules of "linguistic playing" with the literary text, the translation of any Platonov's prosaic work is doomed to turn into a set of linguistic clichés with the loss of his creative and deep semantic and philosophical intentions and the formal language features of his unique idiostyle.
When translating Platonov's attributive constructions, Thomas Whitney mainly uses the strategy of literal translation and lexical calques. To find in English the exact denotative meanings of words and expressions from the source text, he periodically resorts to intended occasional violating the norms of the English language, thereby reconstructing and accurately recreating Platonov's author's occasional constructions in translation.
In many cases this allows him to reproduce in translation some of the effect of Platonov's "broken language." For implementation of such specific features of Platonov's language in his translation Thomas Whitney also consciously refuses to comply with the norms of both the English and Russian languages, voluntarily subordinating himself to the
only rules and conventions applicable here - the linguistic, creative and ontological rules of
Andrei Platonov. In some cases, this helps him to achieve artistic adequacy of its translation,
when the source and translated texts almost coincide with each other in their form and in their
artistic and semantic impact on the reader.
References:
1. Bouilov V.V. (2023). On Some Difficulties in Translating Andrei Platonov's Prose. Cross-Cultural Studies: Education and Science, Vol. 8, Issue 1 (2023), pp. 17-27 (in USA) (In English).
2. Bouilov V.V. (2024). Paronomasia as an Important Stylistic Component of Andrei Platonov's Idiostyle and Its Translation into English. Cross-Cultural Studies:Education and Science, Vol. 9, Issue 3 (2024), pp. 5-15 (in USA) (In English).
3. Brodskij I.A. (1973). Predislovie k povesti A. Platonova «Kotlovan». / Platonov A. The Foundation Pit. Preface to A. Platonov's story The Foundation Pit. A bi-lingual edition. Ann Arbor, Michigan, pp. 163-165 (In Russian).
4. Fedorov N.F. (1982). Sochinenija. Iz 2 toma «Filosofii obshhego dela». Stat'i o reguljacii. Moskva: Mysl' (In Russian).
5. Grigorenko P. (1982). Memoirs. Translated by Thomas P. Whitney. New York: Norton (In English).
6. Orlov Y. (1991). Dangerous Thoughts. Memoirs of a Russian Life (translated by Thomas P. Whitney). New York: William Morrow and Company (In English).
7. Ozhegov S.I. (1990). Slovar' russkogo jazyka. Moskva: Russkij jazyk (In Russian).
8. Platonov A. (1973). Platonov A.P. Kotlovan (In Russian). Platonov A. The Foundtion Pit. (In English). A bi-lingual edition. Translated by Thomas P. Whitney. Ann Arbor, Michigan (In Russian / In English).
9. Platonov A.P. (1988). Kotlovan. Izbrannaja proza. Moskva: Knizhnaja palata (In Russian).
10. Romanov A.S. (1992). Russko-anglijskij i anglo-russkij slovar'. Romanov's Russian-English English-Russian Dictionary. Moskva: Kosmos (In Russian).
11. Solzhenitsyn A.I. (1968). First Circle. 1st Edition. The short novel translated by Thomas P. Whitney. New York: Harper & Row Publishers (In English).
12. Whitney T P. (1962). Russia in My Life. New York: Reynal (In English).
13. Whitney T.P. (1964). The New Writing in Russia. Translated, Ed. with an Introd. by Thomas P. Whitney. Michigan: Ann Arbor, University Of Michigan Press (In English).
14. Whitney T.P. (1972). The Young Russians. Thomas P. Whitney (Editor). A collection of short stories by known and unknown Russian authors about the lives of Russian youth. Mundane, exotic, emotional just as youngsters of any other country. Language English. First published January 1, 1972. Macmillan: Collier-Macmillan (In English)
Information about the Author:
Vassili Bouilov (Helsinki, Finland) - Doctor of Philosophy (FT/PhD) Senior lecturer of Russian Language and Translation, University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Faculty of Philosophy, School of Humanities, Foreign Languages and Translation Studies, E-mail: [email protected], Mob. +358414539704 The author permanently lives in Helsinki.
Vassili Bouilov's 16-digit ORCID identifier: 0000-0003-2326-1513
ORCID iD and the link to public record: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2326-1513
Published scientific works, presented reports and placed own poetic works in different international literary sources - about 128 items (among scientific interests are lingua-Stylistic, Lingua-Cultural, Literary, Semiotic and Translation Studies, Cross-Cultural Communication, Specialization in research of Andrei Platonov 's Idiostyle (Platonovovedenie), i.e. Lingua-Stylistic and Translatological Research of his Language, Ontology, Semiotics, Conceptology, etc.
Author's contribution: The work is solely that of the author.
