A typology of prosodic structures of Belarusian translations of Russian classical poetry

The article examines the rhythmic features of translations of Russian classical poetry into Belarusian. The material of the study is translations of the following works: novel in verse "Eugene Onegin", poems "The Bronse Horseman", "The Gypsies", "Poltava", "The Prisoner of the Caucasus", "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray" by A.S. Pushkin. The rhythm of the translations is compared with that of the original, as well as with the rhythm of Russian and Belarusian traditions of iambic tetrameter from the corresponding periods, including the translators' own works. The main aim of the study is to identify the reasons for the formation of rhythmic features in translations. For this purpose, several hypotheses were tested: 1) translators follow the rhythm of the original text; 2) translations are influenced by the Belarusian poetic tradition; 3) a specific rhythmic tradition emerges with peculiarities specific to translated literature from Russian into Belarusian. The primary research method employed is linguostatistical analysis of rhythm-forming elements of the text, conducted with the assistance of the contemporary computer system "Prosimetron". As a result, statistical data on the distribution of rhythmic structures and stress profiles were obtained. To assess the probability of the texts belonging to the same distribution, the statistical criterion of Pearson's chisquared testis employed. The findings of this study have led to the following conclusions. The translation of "Eugene Onegin" by N. Arsenieva reflects two distinct traditions simultaneously. The first one is Belarusian, which is evident in the particular choice of vocabulary and the conscious effort to differentiate the text from the original Russian version. The second, that of Pushkin, exerts a considerable influence on the rhythm of the translation, with the stress profiles practically coinciding. In his translation of the poem "Poltava" Ya. Kolas is oriented toward the rhythm of Russian verse, whereas his original iambs are characterised by a different rhythmic structure. The translation of "The Prisoner of the Caucasus" by Khvedarovich do not exhibit sufficient rhythmic proximity to either Belarusian or Russian verse, unlike to his "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray". The rhythm of the translations of "Eugene Onegin" by A. Dudar and A. Kuleshov and "The Bronze Horseman" by Ya. Kupala has a unique character: apparently, Belarusian translators do not copy the rhythm of the Russian original, and their rhythm has no direct connection with the Belarusian tradition. The distinctive feature of these translations is manifested in the almost identical stress of the first two strong positions, that is exclusive to either the Russian or the Belarusian verse of research periods. It may be posited that the prosodic structure of Dudar's and Kuleshov's translations was influenced by Kupala, and that they either consciously or unconsciously followed the rhythm of his "The Bronze Horseman". Therewith, no such peculiarity was identified in Kupala's original work. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

Keywords

Authors

References