but he is also conscious of the importance of this poetry's OCALONE W TLUMACZENIU: SKICE

"phonic texture" and the difficulty this presents for the

translator, particularly in view of the need also to reproduce
o WARSZITACIE TLUMACZA POEZJI
the dense conciseness of Popa's work. Z DOl4CZENIEM MALEJ ANTOLOGII
The difference in approach between Pennington and PRZEKLADOW BY STANISLAW
Jones reflects the passage of time and accumulated
experience in the art of translating between their two
BARANCZAK
generations: Pennington is concerned above all with the
meaning of Popa's poetry and the effort to convey it
faithfully, while Francis Jones strives to render the totality (Saved in Translation: Essays About the Workshop of a
of the poetry's texture. Given the fact that Jones was Translator of Poetry Including a Mini-Anthology of
working so closely with Pennington's versions and seeking Translated Works) Poznan: Wydawnictwo as, 1994. 446
above all to complete the work she had begun, however, it pp. ISBN 8385568077.
is not easy to distinguish between their contributions. The
volume has a consistent tone ensured by the process of Madeline G. Levine, Reviewer
passing all the earlier translations through Jones' receptive
mind, where they in turn help shape his own versions. t was Robert Frost, Stanislaw Baranczak reminds us,
In this commentator's view, two things are missing from
what is otherwise a fine book: one is a bibliography of
I who uttered that oft-quoted bon mot: Poetry is what
is lost in translation. Barariczak, a brilliant translator of
Popa's works and secondary sources in English; the other is poetry into Polish (including poems by Frost), would
some reference to the significance of the pictorial symbols rephrase his dictum to read: Poetry is what is lost in bad
that accompany each volume of Popa's poems (reproduced translation. The creation of excellent translations of poetry
in this volume and on its dust-jacket, where they are has been Barariczak's lifelong passion. Hence the
graphically displayed as overlapping). These symbols, their polemical title of the volume under review.
intricate relationship to one another and their importance Baranczak, who holds a chair in Polish literature at
for a complete reading of the poems' meaning have been Harvard University, is known to American readers as a
admirably analyzed by Ronelle Alexander in The Structure translator of contemporary Polish poetry into English.'
of Vasko Popa's Poetry (Columbus, OH: Siavica, 1986), With his former student, Clare Cavanagh (now Professor
which demonstrates the many complex ways in which each of Slavic Literatures at the University of Wisconsin,
poem in a cycle is related to each other and the place of Madison), Barariczak has published two important
each cycle in Popa's work as a whole. While it is a mark of collections of poetry in translation: Spoiling Cannibals'
Popa's originality and power as a poet that this dimension Fun: Polish Poetry of the Last Two Decades of Communist
of his work adds a further level to its density-each volume, Rule (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1991), an
each cycle, and each poem fits into the whole-each may anthology of poems by twenty-six Polish poets, including
also be read on its own. Similarly, while elements of Popa's Barariczak himself, and View with a Grain of Sand (San
poetry are inevitably muted in translation, its compelling Diego-New York-London: Harcourt Brace, 1995), a
power is nonetheless admirably conveyed through the efforts collection of a hundred poems by Wislawa Szymborska,
of these two well-informed, sensitive, and dedicated the 1996 Nobel Laureate. Yet in comparison with the
individuals. - range and quantity of his translations into Polish, these
two books offer only a very modest sampling of
Barariczak ' s extraordinary achievements as a translator.
Celia Hawkesworth teaches at the School of Slavonic and East Polish readers know a different Barariczak, a translator
European Studies, London. She has translated Ivo Andric, of almost unbelievable breadth and energy. He has
Vladimir Arsenijevie, Slobodan Novak, Isak Samokovlija, published two large collections of English-language poetry
Dubravka Ugresic, and Svetlana Velmar-Iankovie. that alone would constitute a major contribution to Polish
letters: An Anthology of English Metaphysical Poetry of the
Seventeenth Century (1982; rev. 1991) and From Chaucer to
Larkin: 400 Immortal Poems, 125 English-language Poets,
from 8 Centuries (1993). Add to this separate volumes of
poetry by, among others, John Donne, George Herbert,
Gerard Manley Hopkins, Emily Dickinson, e.e. cummings,
James Merrill, Dylan Thomas, W.H. Auden; at least a
dozen Shakespeare plays; and book-length selections from
the poetry of Osip Mandelstam and Joseph Brodsky and

42 Translation Review
one begins to have some sense of the prodigious output of unforgivable laziness he cites Judith Hemschemeyer's
this master translator. monumental collection of the complete Anna Akhmatova
Saved in Translation is both more and less than what its in unrhymed and unmusical English versions.)
subtitle promises. Arranged in three sections, it opens with Barariczak's minimal standard for sound translation
a manifesto that is followed by a collection of about a dozen practice is simple enough. To produce a verse translation
previously published essays, most of which dissect earlier that is both a good poem in the target language and a
translators' failed efforts and offer for the reader's reasonably accurate translation of the original, the
consideration Barariczak ' s own versions, which of course he translator must adhere to two simple commandments: (1)
considers much closer to perfection. The sole exception to Never translate verse into prose, and (2) Do not turn good
this critical approach is an essay lauding Karl Dedecius's poetry into bad poetry. A similar minimalist statement
German translation of Stanislaw Lem's aphorisms, his Mysli that actually conceals behind its humor a demanding set of
nieuczesane (Unkempt Thoughts). The final section of the expectations is his Triple T Theory of Shakespeare
book consists of forty translated pieces presented as a Translation (151):
collection of puzzles.
Barariczak does not attempt to conceal the fact that Three Truisms of Translation
what spurs him to work on translations of previously I. Translating Shakespeare, one should
translated verse is a combination of ambition and arrogance: remember that he was not stupid.
This is a challenge; I can meet it, and I can do so far better II. Translating Shakespeare, one should
than anyone else has up till now. In almost every instance, remember that he was a pretty good
this reader was convinced by his proofs. Oddly enough, the poet.
sole translation about which she still retains some doubt is III. Translating Shakespeare, one should
of Frost's "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening"-not remember that he was not the worst
because its poetry has been lost in translation but rather theatrical artist.
because too much has been added by the translator.'
Baranczak apparently loves extravagant titles almost as Baranczak clearly believes that to be a fine translator
much as he loves the challenge of translation. While leaving one must first be an attentive, intelligent, and sensitive
the grab-bag Part II otherwise untitled, he calls his reader. The translator's first task, he tells us repeatedly, is
introductory theoretical piece, which constitutes the whole to determine the poem' s semantic dominant, "the
of Part I, "A Small, But Maximalist Translatological fundamental principle organizing the entirety and more
Manifesto, or, An Explanation That Poetry is Also important than all other features of the work. This
Translatedwith the Goal of Explaining to Other Translators decision is so important that in the process of translating
that There is No Explanation for the Majority of Verse the translator will often be forced into various eliminations
Translations." Part III is titled "A Mini-Anthology of or substitutions of the original's stylistic features; he may
Translation Problems: 40 Brain-Teasers in the Form of not, however, lose sight of what he has recognized as the
Poems for Translation, Together with Commentaries semantic dominant; he may not stop trying to preserve the
Explaining Why the Task is Practically Impossible, Along dominance of that trait in his translation" (112). Being
with 40 Solutions of These Same Brain-Teasersin the Form such a reader is no guarantee of success as a translator,
of Translations Which Were, Nevertheless, Accomplished." but no degree of cleverness at word play, rhyming skills, or
Barariczak, in other words, loves words and playing with familiarity with poetic devices and metrical schemes can
words, and he likes to think of translation work as an possibly substitute for the acute interpretive skills of an
intellectual exercise similar to doing complicated puzzles or expert reader. And what an expert reader Baranczak is.
working out difficult chess problems. The true delights of Saved in Translation derive less
The reader, however, should not be fooled by these arch from the author's oft-repeated warnings about adhering to
titles or by the author's emphasis on the problem-solving the semantic dominant than from his brilliant
aspect of translation work. Baranczak is as passionate about commentaries on poem after poem, whether in the more
the poetry of poetry as he is about the game of poetic leisurely essays of Parts I and II or the taut descriptions of
translation, and playful though he may be about his own the challenge facing the translator that accompany each of
work as a translator, he is utterly unforgiving when he the 40 brain-teasers in Part III. These brain-teasers, it
catches another translator committing any of the cardinal should be noted, range across an extraordinary variety of
sins against poetry that translation is heir to. He has only poetic styles, including, for example,Akhmatova'sRequiem
contempt for those he deems lazy-translators who declare in its entirety, a sonnet by Edmund Spenser, "Maxwell's
cavalierly that since the "music" of a poem cannot be Silver Hammer" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney,
captured in translation they will content themselves with and a mystical poem in Spanish by the 16th-century poet
conveying the "meaning," as if form and content had no San Juan de la Cruz. The commentaries go to the heart
intrinsic relation to each other. (As a prime example of of the translator's task, probing for potential pitfalls,

Translation Review 43
remarking on each work's stylistic characteristics, its THE LIFE OF INSECTS BY VIKTOR
essential meaning, the tradition it emerges from.
Baranczak takes into account, too, the translator's
PELEVIN
emotional response, which may not always assist him in
translation. Setting the task for translating a pair of short
odes by the 18th-century Russian poet Ippolit Bogdanovich, Translated from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield. New
for example, he comments: "The Task: Suppressing one's York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. 179 pp. ISBN
natural moral resistance to the author's revolting cynicism, 0374186251.
one must do everything to ensure that the translation is
proof of the accuracy of his harmful thesis" (239). Or, Holly Raynard, Reviewer
inciting the would-be translator to transgress against literal
accuracy when working on Edward Lear' s "The Owl and hen I first approached the text at hand, I wondered
the Pussy-Cat," he writes in his definition of the task: W if a British translator could do justice to a novel in
"Faithfulness to the author and his work is measured in this which most of the realities of the text, as well as language
instance by a single standard: the decibel level of the itself, involve specifically American culture. The American
reader's laughter" (336). edition puts my initial suspicions to rest: it bears virtually
Saved in Translation should delight (even as it no trace of British idioms or lexicon. There are occasional
sometimes will infuriate) anyone who has ever marveled at words or phrases that don't sound natural to my ears, but
a superb translation, raged at the way a beloved poem has whether it is my particular ears or my American ears that
been ruined by a tone-deaf translator, or labored and played object, I can't say. The Bromfield translation is, in my
with verse translation himself. Now all that remains is for opinion, a valid version for the English-speaking world:
someone to undertake the translation of this book into Bromfield by and large manages to convey the content,
English. tone, humor, and even the word play and socio-linguistic
issues of the original.
The Life of Insects depicts Soviet life during the
NOTES perestroika era, as various cultural artifacts suggest (Lenin
monuments are still to be found, Rambo is a cultural icon,
1. Stanislaw Barariczak is also a poet in his own right and the kopecks still carry monetary value, and American
author of numerous literary and political essays collected in businessmen are actively pursuing "joint ventures" with
some half dozen volumes, as well as two important critical both Russian businessmen and desperate Russian women),
monographs: The Poetic Language of Miron Bialoszewski and the translator faces the challenging task of conveying
(1974) and, available in English and Polish versions, Fugitive those specific cultural realities. Furthermore, much of this
from Utopia: the Poetry of Zbigniew Herbert (1987). task involves language itself. At times Pelevin uses
Russian meta linguistically: he spells words phonetically to
2. Arguing that this is a legitimate interpretation of the poem' s
create estrangement, he creates puns on Russian cliches,
fundamental meaning, Barariczak translates Frost' s line, "But
I have promises to keep," as, literally, "But the sober world of he suggests semantic connections through linguistic
hope summons [me]" ["Lecz wola trzezwy Swiat nadziei."] pp. similarities, and he uses English as a prestige language in
62-63. • a number of scenes. None of this linguistic play is merely
incidental; it is crucial for representing the cultural reality
of the time.
Madeline Levine teaches in the Department ofSlavic Languages While the tone of the chapter "Initiation" is relatively
and LiJeratUTfls at the University of North Carolina. She has straightforward-it is essentially metaphysical with
translated Miron Biatoszewski, Ida Fina, Czeslaw Milosz, and elements of humor resulting from an innocent child's view
Bogdan Wojdowski. of the complexities of the adult world-the translator must
deal with several complicated language-related issues. The
chapter is devoted to a young dung beetle, who, with the
help of his father's scarab wisdom, is trying to come to
grips with his "I," or in Bromfield's translation, his "Ai."
Pelevin spells the Russian word "£ ," meaning "I,"
phonetically in Russian and capitalizes it (Arr ). Not only
is this not standard in Russian but a Russian word cannot
begin with the letter "t! ," and consequently a capitalized
"I1"looks particularly strange. Pelevin uses "At!" to create
estrangement and to show that it is the metaphysical or
poetic "I" in question here as distinguished from the
everyday first-person pronoun. Bromfield chooses an

44 Translation Review