Ye. Yevtushenko’s poem “Babi Yar” in the English reception
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2025-3-116-125
The article examines translations of Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s poem “Babi Yar” into English in seven anthologies published from 1962 to 2008. The relevance of the study is determined by both the high interest of Western readers, publishers and translators in the novelty and brightness of the artistic form of the poem in combination with the unusual theme for a Soviet author (exposing anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union) and the importance of studying the special possibilities of the type of examined publications (anthologies) in terms of creating an image of a foreign author and work, as well as influencing its perception by the reader. The majority of English translations of the poem were published in the 1960s, close to the time of its writing; the republication of an earlier translation in 2008 testifies to the continuing interest in the poem. The aim of this study is to examine the translation reception of the poem “Babi Yar” in the English-speaking world, including translation strategies and approaches that influence reader’s perception. The objectives of the study were achieved through a comprehensive analysis of the material, including historical and cultural, comparative, motive and figurative and imagological methods and approaches. The corpus of English translations of the poem “Babi Yar” is identified. The features of English publishing strategies in relation to the poem are analyzed, including the attitude to Russia, its literature, culture and social processes, as well as to Russian poets and writers of the “thaw” period, indicated in paratextual elements (introduction, conclusion, articles about the author, publisher’s commentary). The description of the artistic and aesthetic properties of the original text of the poem “Babi Yar” is presented, a comparative analysis of the original poem and its translations into English is carried out. The artistic and aesthetic features of each translation are described, and different translators’ approaches to the translated material are revealed. Conclusions are made about the belonging of translations to a certain type (free translation, replacing the basic imagery; interlinear translation, aimed at maximum semantic correspondence to the original; equivalent translation, striving to comprehensively convey the artistic and aesthetic features of the original) and their possible influence on reader’s perception.
Keywords: poem “Babi Yar”, anthology, translation reception, publishing strategy, paratext, Ye. Yevtushenko
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Issue: 3, 2025
Series of issue: Issue 3
Rubric: RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND INTERCULTURAL LITERARY RELATIONS
Pages: 116 — 125
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