Translation as dialogue between traditions and cultures (Anacreontic Song by N. Gumilev)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the Anacreontic Song by Théophile Gautier, translated by N. S. Gumilev, which is examined against the background of the Russian and global Anacreontic tradition. Imitation of Anacreon is rooted in antiquity: his figure became a symbol of light lyric poetry that glorified sensual pleasures. Anacreon’s own legacy is not as extensive as pseudo-Anacreontic poetry: this tradition is present in English, French, German, Italian and Russian literature. In the process of translating Odelette anacréontique by Théophile Gautier, Gumilev enters into intercultural and inter-traditional communication: his translation is a dialogue with both the French poet and the Anacreontic and pseudo-Anacreontic genre tradition. Despite the statements N. S. Gumilev proposed in his theoretical works on translation issues, which stated that it is necessary to rely on the original text during translation, and that deviations and loose retellings are unacceptable, in some cases he still departs from the original text, deliberately building the subtext of the poem that is absent in the original. Gumilev’s translation makes Gautier’s poem “more Anacreontic” than the original: Gumilev intensifies the motifs of love, pleasure, sensual pleasure that are significant for pseudo-Anacreontics, introduces the image of wine as a symbol of love that was absent in the original. Gumilev’s translation solutions considered in the article represent a kind of editing of Gautier’s text that approximated it to the complex of motifs traditionally associated with the work of Anacreon.