Article published In:
BabelVol. 50:4 (2004) ► pp.289–297
Untranslatable “You” in Chekhov’s Lady with Lapdog
Abstract
The present text examines a single instance of untranslatability — that of Russian second-person pronouns into English in the English versions of one of Anton Chekhov’s best known and most accomplished short stories, "Lady with Lapdog." The way in which Chekhov makes use of these pronouns is an essential aspect of his literary style and originality. The fact that the interplay of these pronouns is not translated — indeed, cannot be translated — has implications not just for English readers’ understanding of this story but for the general issue of untranslatability raised by Horst Frenz in his essay "The Art of Translation," published more than thirty years ago. Because the English reader does not have access to the subtle interplay between the two second-person pronouns in the Russian original, important features of the relationship between the two main characters are blurred if not altogether lost. Indeed, even the structure of the story itself can be seen to derive from this interplay of pronouns and of their corresponding verb forms. In conclusion, no matter how readable a translated text may be, it is bound, by the very nature of linguistic diff erences, to be to some degree untranslatable. The degree of untranslatability in the English renderings of Chekhov’s short story turns out to be great enough to prevent an appreciation of what is at the heart of Chekhov’s literary achievement.
Résumé
Ce texte examine un seul exemple d’intraduisibilite — la traduction en anglais du pronom russe de la seconde personne, dans les versions anglaises d’une des nouvelles les plus connues et les plus accomplies d’Anton Tcheckov, La dame au petit chien. La maniere dont Tchekov utilise ces pronoms constitue un aspect essentiel de son style litteraire et de son originalite. Le fait que l’interaction de ces pronoms ne soit pas traduite — qu’en fait, elle ne puisse pas l’etre — a des implications, non seulement sur la comprehension de cette nouvelle par les lecteurs anglais mais aussi sur le probleme general de l’intraduisibilite, souleve par Horst Frenz dans son essai L’art de la traduction, publie il y a plus de trente ans. Etant donne que le lecteur anglais n’a pas acces a la subtile interaction entre les pronoms de la seconde personne dans l’original russe, d’importantes particularites de la relation entre les deux personnages principaux s’estompent, si elles ne sont pas completement perdues. En eff et, la structure meme de l’histoire peut etre consideree comme provenant de cette interaction des pronoms et de leurs formes verbales correspondantes. En conclusion, un texte traduit a beau etre lisible, il sera certainement intraduisible dans une certaine mesure, en raison de la nature meme des differences linguistiques. Le degre d’intraduisibilite dans les traductions anglaises de la nouvelle de Tcheckov est suffi- samment important pour empecher d’apprecier ce qui est au coeur de la reussite litteraire de Tcheckov.
Cited by (2)
Cited by two other publications
Chen, Xuemei
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Children's Literature in Education ![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Flores Ohlson, Linda
2019.
Zombies lost in translation. The translation from English to Spanish of (de)humanizing pronouns.
Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas 14:1
► pp. 91 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
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