მარინა ცვეტაევას ერთი ლექსის მასკულინური თარგმანი

Abstract

There are two Georgian translations of Marina Tsvetaeva’s two-strophe untitled poem „Я – страница твоему перу„ (“I am a Page for your Pen”, 1918). The paper analyzes the translation of this poem made by Vakhushti Kotetishvili, which, in the author’s opinion, is done masterfully, but has a masculine shade. The analysis of the translation is preceded by the conceptualization of the given poem, which is of decisive importance for adequate translation. To a certain extent, the author shares Catherine Ciepiela’s opinion expressed during the analysis of the poems by B. Pasternak (“Spring,” 1914) and M. Tsvetaeva (“I am a Page for your Pen”): “Both poems suggest a homology between the act of writing and the sexual act”, but the author does not fully agree with the opinion that “Tsvetaeva assumes a passive feminine posture.”(Ciepiela, 2018:5-6) The original text abounds in the first person singular pronoun, which is used five times in a two-strophe poem. The poem starts with this pronoun, and its special role in the poem should be preserved in the translation. In the original text, “the roles” are distributed as follows: “I” (for you) – a white page, black earth; “You” (for me) – a pen, a ray of sun and rain’s moisture. Such distribution of roles grants a vivid place and status to each of the two sides. This implies the equality of relationships. Here the world is divided into two planes – the lyrical hero (“I”) and her muse. Both components are equally important for the integrity of the world. The poet surrenders to the other side, at the same time remaining an equal partner. The rain and the sky represent the masculine essence, whereas the earth represents the feminine one. The rain fertilizes the earth. In Tsvetaeva’s poem, the earth is black. Black earth is especially fertile. However, in the Georgian translation, the soil becomes “ordinary”, hence, its value is depreciated. The phrase “if I bear it” which appears in Georgian translation seems conceptually unjustified, because it points to the lack of self-confidence. Yet, this self-doubt is impossible due to the status attached by Tsvetaeva to her lyrical hero. The translation of the second line of the second strophe (“I await you - a ray of sun and rain - with appeal”) seems inappropriate, taking into account the above-mentioned status as well as the spirit of the entire poem. In the original text, there is no simile (and there should not be any!), because the author draws a distinct line between her functions and the functions of “the other”. The author provides precise definitions and does not require analogies. Taking into account the pathos of the poem, “awaiting with appeal” seems excessive. To summarize, the lyrical hero represented by the first person singular pronoun cannot be “the second one”, “the subordinate one” – “the awaiting one” “the appealing one”. This is the translator’s masculine perception of the woman’s role, which does not coincide with the poet’s own attitude.