Untranslatable and untranslated wittiness in Cervantes's Exemplary novels

Abstract

The article focuses on B. A. Krzhevskii's translation of Cervantes's Exemplary Novels (Novelas ejemplares), which he made at the beginning of the 1930s. This translation conserved the slightly archaic structure of the Russian language of that time, and this aptly correlates with the stylistic features of the original 17th century text. At the same time, we can perceive the limitations of the textual research underlying the translation. By contrast, today extensive new commentaties have enriched our interpretation of Cervantes' text. Over the last 100 years, scholars and commentators have revealed and clarified hidden allusions, “microquotes”, rhetorical and philosophical topoi, and culture-specific concepts: all this allows us to raise the issue of trying to compensate for them by filling in the gaps in the Russian translation. One of the most significant attributes of Cervantine language can be defined as wittiness (ingenio) which in the late Renaissance and Baroque culture had become a matter of special concern. The article deals with two aspects of such wittiness: how Cervantes applies a so called “ready-made” (rhetorical) word in a new context, on the one hand, and how he involves specific elements of the historical, “real” background, on the other (information about individuals, objects encountered in daily life, social or religious practices). In both cases. word-for-word or more equivalent translation runs to risk of being too exotic or even alien for the Russian language. Apparently B. A. Krzhevskii, leaving aside unrecognized allusions, chose the strategy of adapting his translation, which made it sound as more «organic», but which resulted in the loss of some meaningful witticisms.