On six Dutch translations of “Fathers and Sons”

Abstract

The article focuses on six Dutch translations of I. S. Turgenev's novel “Fathers and Sons”, made in 1870, 1918, 1919, 1947, 1955 and 1991, which are a perfect example of translation plurality. The first translation was done via French as an interlingua, the second one directly from Russian into Dutch. The translations are analyzed at macro- and micro-levels. The background of the origin of these translations, brief information about the translators is provided in the paper, with a special focus on the 5-volume issue of Turgenev's works by the publishing house “Van Oorschot” in the edition “Russian Library”. With reference to the facts of Turgenev's influence on Dutch writers of different generations, the authors highlight the closeness of the novel “Fathers and Sons” to the core of the Dutch literary polysystem. The analysis at the micro-level includes the comparison of six different ways of translating proper names and Russian personal pronouns «ты» - «вы», phraseological units, culture-specific elements, descriptions of nature as well as the overview of mistranslations. Whereas early translations are characterized by expliciticity and are abound of commentaries on Russian phraseological units and culture-specific elements, the modern ones are considerably more precise and laconic. The authors conclude that the first three translators were not quite proficient in Russian and not always strictly adhered to the translational mechanism; the translation of 1947 is much more professional whereas the translations of 1955 and 1991 are flawless in terms of accuracy and the choice of adequate linguistic equivalents; the Dutch variant of 1955 meets the principles of a high-quality translation, and the translation of 1991 includes the elements of dynamic equivalence.