ტექსტის რეცეფცია და მთარგმნელის ინტერპრეტაცია

Abstract

Three components of one entity: text → translator → reader have been in the focus of translation studies both in the theoretical and practical plane. This is the case with the given paper. Based on the arguments given below, we attempt to justify the originality and topicality of the research: 1. The object of the analysis is the story “The Sad Geraniums” (Die traurigen Geranien) by a German writer Wolfhang Borchert (*1921 Hamburg - †1947 Basel). This story is yet unknown to the Georgian reader; 2. The authors analyze the original text of the story in comparison with its Georgian and Russian translations; 3. The experimental material has been obtained from the translations made by our students; 4. Comparison is made between the translations made by our students and two Russian translations available on the internet, out of which one is authorized, made by Arkadi Ravikovich, Russian-speaking poet, criticist and translator of Jewish origin, and the other is a machine translation performed by the Lexicographic Center using the digital base of Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English; 5. Out of the above-mentioned triangle, we focus on the first two components – the original text, as a literary source, and the translator, as the first reader and interpreter of the text. Borchert’s life was short; the unbearable years spent at war are reflected in his works dedicated to “The Lost Generation”. His prototypes – people suffering both morally and physically from the traumatic experience of war – cannot adjust to the post-war situation in Germany. The story selected for our analysis does not completely fit within this general context. It is dedicated to the eternal problems in human relationships: radical difference in interests, disillusionment, loneliness. It is hard to say why, despite its sentiments, “The Sad Geraniums” was not paid due attention by literary critcs and translators. The protagonists – the woman and the man – non-personified creatures denoted by pronouns, find each other at dusk and perceive each other visually only when they have breakfast (presumably after spending the night together). The man is irritated because he discovers the woman’s misshapen, asymmetrical, dark-skinned nose, so unsuitable for her face. He tries to justify this by saying that Picasso applied asymmetry for revealing the inner world of the figure. Yet, the woman fails to understand him. She has not heard of Picasso, and is unable to explain the asymmetry of her nose. She only knows that her nose has always been like that and that she has a completely different inner world: harmonious, aspiring for having a traditional family. This is proved by the Geranium pots placed symmetrically on the window-sill. The man is irritated by the woman’s penetrating glance. He suffocates and sweats, and hurriedly takes his leave. In the street, he stops several times, cleans his forehead with a handkerchief and sighs with a grimace of relief. The woman looks at him, but she cannot see his grimace, because of tears in her eyes. Her sadness passes on to the geraniums. The story is an intermixture of two seemingly incompatible lines: man → nose, aspiration to freedom, grimace || woman → symmetry, harmony, desire to have a family, tears in the eyes. Hence, the questions: is the story perceived by the translator objectively or subjectively? Does the translator perceive the data adequately, or does he/she involuntarily support one of the characters? Does the translator offer his interpretation based on his/her own experience? What are the criteria for the assessment of bias by a person with equal knowledge of the original and target languages? These and other issues are discussed in the experimental part of the paper which offers comparative analysis of translations made by students and the above-mentioned two Russian translations.