Lacunae in translations of poetic text: a study of English translations of "Eugene Onegin" by A. S. Pushkin

Abstract

This article is aimed at studying the theory of lacunae in Russian and international research works. The authors identify lacunae in the text of the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" by A. S. Pushkin in Russian and study the ways of rendering them into English.

Full Text

The problem of communication between cultures is particularly acute not only in real life, but also when studying the spiritual heritage of another culture and country, and therefore the study of works of art of other peoples, the identification of meanings enclosed by their creators have become especially important in the first quarter of the XXI century. The individuality of each of the languages, and therefore the cultural identity of a particular nationality, can be revealed by studying lacunary vocabulary.

Being a native Russian work of the XIX century, the novel in verse by A. S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin" contains a large number of realia characteristic of that era, which are represented by lacunae and therefore is an ideal material for studying lacunary vocabulary. Lacuna (from Latin lacuna – cavity, depression, from French lacune – emptiness, gap) is the absence in the language of the designation of a concept present in another language. We can find the following definition of a lacunae in relation to linguistics and literary studies in the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian language" S. I. Ozhegov: "a gap, a missing place in the text" [5].

For the first time, the existence of the above-mentioned layer of vocabulary was noticed by foreign linguists J.-P. Vinay and J. Darbelnet. They introduced the term "lacunae" into scientific discourse [6]. In addition, the French linguist A. Malblanc was engaged in the study of lacunae [10].

In Russian linguistics, the theory of lacunae was studied by many scholars, including Y. A. Sorokin, L. S. Barkhudarov, E. V. Vereshchagin, V. G. Kostomarov, V. L. Muravyev, V. G. Gak, V. I. Zhelvis, I. A. Sternin, Z. D. Popova and others.

According to Yu. S. Stepanov, lacunae are "dictionary gaps", "white spots" in the language that are invisible to its native speaker [4]. Moreover, the linguist distinguishes between the concepts of "culture-specific words" and "lacunae" and believes that the national and cultural identity of the linguistic community is manifested in both of the above layers of vocabulary. E. V. Vereshchagin believes that the term "lacunae" is synonymous with the term "culture-specific words" [1]. Speaking about elements that are specific to a particular nationality and prevent communication and a full understanding of the two cultures, G. D. Gachev calls them "hangnails", which are "slipped up in the process of intercultural communication" [2].

Thus, at the moment there is no single definition of the term "lacunae" in the linguistic community, however, most linguists understand lacunae as the basic elements of the national specifics of the linguistic and cultural community, which make it difficult for representatives of other cultures and languages to understand some fragments of the text.

Let's pay attention to the classification of lacunae. The first classification was presented by the French-Canadian linguists J.-P. Vinay and J. Darbelnet. They identified two types of lacunae [6]:

• intralanguage lacunae – words that are absent in the language, but have synonyms within a certain lexical paradigm;
• interlanguage – lexical units that are absent in one of the languages, but are present in the vocabulary of another language. Thus, interlanguage gaps can be identified only when comparing two languages.

Following J.-P. Vinet and J. Darbelnet, Y. S. Stepanov proposed his own classification of lacunae. He identified two large groups – relative and absolute lacunae [5]. The scientist notes that absolute lacunae are words that have no linguistic equivalent and that can only be identified when compiling bilingual dictionaries (for example, the Russian words "именинник", "ровесник", "кипяток"). The group of relative lacunae includes words that are used quite rarely and under exceptional circumstances (the Russian words "тоска", "душа", "судьба").

V. L. Muravyev, for his part, identified lexical, ethnographic, stylistic and associative lacunae [3].

The discrepancy between the conceptual volumes of words from different languages leads to the appearance of lexical lacunae. Thus, the Russian verbs "жениться" and "выйти замуж" are lacunae for the English language, since they have only one common equivalent – the verb "to marry", which is a generic term [3].

Ethnographic lacunae reflect differences in cultures and mentalities in an extralinguistic aspect – these are the spheres of everyday life, morality, socio-cultural context, as well as differences in geographical names. In the Russian language, you can find the following words that are lacunae for the English language: "кокошник", "кафтан", "балалайка", "самовар", "лапти" [3].

Stylistic lacunae are found in the absence of a word or a stable combination in one of the languages with the same emotional and stylistic coloring as the word in the source language. Russian modal particles "неужели", "разве", "ведь", "же", "-то", etc., are a vivid example of a stylistic lacuna [3].

Associative lacunae are based on associations caused by differences in the linguistic pictures of the world of different cultures. So, the number 3 is significant for Russian folk tales, epics, proverbs, phraseological units ("за тридевять земель", "потеряться в трех соснах", etc.). Due to different historical experiences, the frequent use of the number 3 in literature remains incomprehensible for other cultures [3].

Based on the classification of V. L. Muravyev, we will consider ethnographic, associative, lexical and stylistic lacunae and ways of their translation into English in the translations of "Eugene Onegin" by J. Falen [8] and Ch. Johnston [9].

According to V. L. Muravyev's classification, ethnographic lacunae include the names of units of measurement, titles, vehicles, food and beverages, etc. [3]. The following example is of great interest for analysis from the point of view of translation transformation. The word "дрожки" used in the original text (chapter 1, stanza XXXIII) («…Уносят дрожки удалые / По петербургской мостовой…») means "light open carriage" [4]. Not having picked up an equivalent, the translator J. Falen transcribes the word: "... In racing droshkies bound for pleasure / Along the Petersburg chaussee...", and Ch. Johnston transliterates it: "... by drozhkies jaunting at full power / over the Petersburg pavé ..." However, none of the translators gives a translation commentary on the word used, and therefore a foreign reader is likely to perceive the passage inappropriately.

Associative lacunae need historical commentary, interpretation, because in translation it is important to preserve background information that may be unavailable to a foreign reader due to different historical experiences of cultures [3].

A perfect example is the following lines: «…Да та, которая грустна / И молчалива, как Светлана…» (chapter 3, stanza V). Describing Tatiana Larina, the author compares her with another literary character – the heroine of the ballad "Svetlana" by V. A. Zhukovsky. It is known that by nature Svetlana was humble, shy, silent, and that unites her with the heroine of A. S. Pushkin Tatiana Larina. Let us pay attention to the translation comments proposed by J. Falen and Ch. Johnston. J. Falen notes: "Svetlana: the reference is to the heroine of a ballad by Vasily Zhukovsky (1783-1852), a talented poet and Pushkin's friend." Ch. Johnston gives the following comment: "Heroine of Zhukovsky's poem of the same name." It is worth noting that J. Falen gives a more complete commentary than Ch. Johnston, which allows the reader to understand why A. S. Pushkin refers to the text of V. A. Zhukovsky.

Let us pay attention to the lexical lacunae that are associated with the absence of a one-word equivalent in one language compared to another [3]. An example of a lexical lacunae is the word "венчаться" (chapter 2, stanza XVIII). Let us quote the original text: «…Да как же ты венчалась, няня?» As already noted, the Russian hyperonyms "выходить замуж", "жениться", and "венчаться" do not match the same hyperonyms in English and are translated by the hyponym "to marry". This very translation that both translators offer us: "... Then how'd you come to marry, nanny?" (J. Falen) and "... How did you come to marry, nyanya?" (Ch. Johnston). Having failed to find a one-word equivalent in the target language, translators resort to generalization.

Now we are going to consider stylistic lacunae. According to V. L. Muravyev, stylistic lacunae are characterized by the absence of an adequate stylistic component in the target language, which leads to incomplete translation match [3].

The colloquial particle "авось", used in the following context – «…Уж как он Танею прельщался, /… / Я думала: пойдет авось; / Куда! и снова дело врозь…» (chapter 7, stanza XXVI), expresses the desire of Tatiana's nanny that the girl will get married. J. Falen transforms the lexeme "авось" into the modal verb "might", expressing the assumption, the probability of an action: "... My word, that little devil courted! / I thought she might accept him then; / But no! the deal fell through again..." Thus, by different means of languages (particle and modal verb) the authors convey the same idea – hope, the probability that Tatiana will get married, but the translator could not convey the stylistic coloring of the vernacular dialect of Tatiana's nanny. Ch. Johnston conveys the nanny's hopes with the introductory construction "I thought" and the adverb "perhaps": "...he found Tatiana so attractive, / ... / I thought, she'll go this time, perhaps / far from it! just one more collapse ..." Paraphrasing, the translator retains the denotative component, however, Ch. Johnston also fails to convey the stylistic coloring of the word by means of the English language.

Summarizing all the above, the main translation transformations in the process of translating lacunae of a Russian poetic text into English are generalization, lexeme replacement, transcription and transliteration as well as translation commentary.