Rendering means of expressing politeness in the translation of N. V. Gogol’s poem Dead Souls into German

Abstract

The article discusses the linguistic means of expressing politeness N. V. Gogol’s poem Dead Souls and the possibilities of their rendering in German translation suggested by F. Löbenstein in 1846. The poem features numerous communicative situations in which speakers strive to achieve their goals using various speech strategies determined by the social status and interpersonal relationships of the interlocutors. The novelty of the research lies in the consideration of the poem’s text of the translation precisely in regard to conveying various shades of polite treatment by Gogol’s contemporary. The introduction provides a brief overview of the scientific works that served as the theoretical basis for this article. They are devoted to politeness in Russian and German linguocultures, fiction and translation. Special attention is paid to addressing the interlocutor, speech etiquette formulas, the request and the apology. Discrepancies between the Russian and German versions resulting from the lack of equivalents in German are revealed. For example, the address barin ʻmasterʼ is translated as gnӓdiger Herr — milostivyy gosudar’ ʻdear sirʼ. In some cases differences in the German text can be considered a translator’s decision influenced by his perception of the plot and a nature of characters, which manifests in, for instance, using a different mood in translation or other means of expressing modality. The article describes some features of etiquette formulas inherent to the Russian-speaking culture of the 19th century and analyzes ways in which the means of expressing politeness are rendered in German translation as well as their appropriateness.