Author
KaratsubaMyroslava
a Ph.D. in Philology, an associate professor, a senior research fellow of the Ukrainian and Foreign Folkloristics Department of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine). ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4836-9264
Achievements and Miscalculations of the Maksym Rylskyi Translations
from Serbian Folk Poetry
Abstract
Maksym Rylsky is a central figure among Ukrainian translators of Serbian folk poetry in the Soviet period. As it is known, translation activity in general occupies a very important place in the creative heritage of this outstanding Ukrainian poet. M. Rylskyi has also written theoretical works in the field of translation, where he summarizes his own translation experience and expresses interesting thoughts about the translation work of other Ukrainian and Polish artists – I. Franko, M. Starytskyi, P. Hrabovskyi, P. Tychyna, M. Bazhan, L. Pervomaiskyi, Yu. Tuvim, etc. He has also written theoretical works in the field of translations: On Translations of Poetic Works, More on Translations and others. M. Rylskyi has taken part in the collective report of P. Antokolskyi, M. Auezov The Problems of Translation at the Second All-Union Congress of the Soviet Writers. His individual review Artistic Translation from One Slavic Language into Another at the Fourth International Congress of Slavists in 1958 is also known.In his notes on translation skills Maksym Rylskyi insists that only a deeply personal work, only a deeply individual approach to the described and liked material contributes to a real, full-fledged success. Therefore, truthfulness in reflecting the thought and form of the original, ideological correspondence and aesthetic accuracy are important. M. Rylskyi has put forward the principle of a creative approach to the original, where the preference is given to the term fidelity over the term accuracy. On the scholar’s opinion, attracted by the external similarity of the sound of individual words and phrases, an inexperienced translator or a translator-literalist starts to demand absolute, literal accuracy in the original retelling, but he is hindered with differences in accents and syntactic structure.The preservation of musical tone of the poetic lines of the original is important for M. Rylskyi. He treats the key task carefully: masterful, harmonious reproduction of syntactic and phonetic specific features, as well as the stylistic richness of the translated text in the condition of its adaptation in Ukrainian.
Keywords
M. Rylskyi, literary translation, proximity of Slavic languages, creative approach, accuracy, fidelity.
References
- BULAKHOVSKYI, Leonid. Maksym Rylskyi, A Patriotic Poet. In: Leonid BULAKHOVSKYI. Works: in Five Volumes. Kyiv, 1977, vol. 2, 267 pp. [in Ukrainian].
- VERVES, Hryhoriy. The Homecoming of a Poet. In: Mykola VORONYI. Works. Kyiv: Dnipro, 1989, 132 pp. [in Ukrainian].
- HUTS, Mykhaylo. Serbo-Croatian Folk Songs in Ukraine. Kyiv: Scientific Thought, 1966, 205 pp. [in Ukrainian].
- HUTS, Mykhaylo. Serbian Folk Songs in Ukraine. Kyiv: Tempora, 2020, 320 pp. [in Ukrainian].
- ZEROV, Mykola. On the Issue of Poetic Translation. In: Oleh MYKYTENKO, ed.-in-chief, The Universe. Kyiv, 1988, 8, 48–54 [in Ukrainian].
- RYLSKYI, Maksym. Evening Conversations: Essays, Articles. Kyiv, Belles-Lettres State Publishing House, 1964, p. 142 [in Ukrainian].
- RYLSKYI, Maksym. Hibernal Notes. Kyiv: Soviet Writer, 1964, 210 pp. [in Ukrainian].
- RYLSKYI, Maksym. A Trip to Yugoslavia. In: Kyiv in the Evening, 1962, November 17, p. 3 (in Ukrainian).
- RYLSKYI, Maksym. On Translations of Poetic Works. More about Translations (Articles). In: Maksym RYLSKYI. Collected Works: in Three Volumes. Kyiv, 1955, vol.3, 403 pp. [in Ukrainian].
- PERVOMAYSKYI, Leonid, Maksym RYLSKYI (compilers). Serbian Folk Poetry. Kyiv, 1955, 274 pp. [in Ukrainian].
- RYLSKYI, Maksym (compiler, translator). Serbian Epic Songs. Kyiv, 1946, 214 pp. [in Ukrainian].