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Abstract:

Despite the abundance of research on translation and its mechanisms, the “archaeological” aspect of this phenomenon, known as “reverse translation,” remains largely unexplored. “Various cultural phenomena are constantly being translated into different, initially foreign, cultural languages, often with a complete reinterpretation of their content. We need to learn how to translate back and put things in their original places” (Alexander Mikhailov). The participants of the project “The Problem of Multilingualism and Reverse Translation,” focused on studying the inversion of meaning in translation. How does a foreign reader get acquainted with works of Russian literature, and how does a Russian reader get acquainted with texts of foreign literature? What are the new meanings that are determined by the recipient’s context? Which losses are associated with them? Another important subtopic of the monograph is multilingualism, a complex system of interaction between different languages in the broadest sense. The study consists of six sections. The first two, which are designed as case studies, are a mirror-like attempt to trace the transformation that occurs when a text is transferred into a different language environment. The main focus is not on the sense increments (it should be a research area that is a priority for cultural transfer methodology), but rather on the loss of meaning. The third section of the study, entitled “Multilingualism as a Way of Existence for Literary Text,” is devoted to the different issues of bilingualism (or multilingualism) in the texts of Pushkin and Tolstoy. The monograph concludes with the chapters “Commentary as a Requirement for Reverse Translation” and a discussion section “Reverse Translation: The Point of No Return.” The appendix includes a reverse translation in the original sense of the term, which is a translation of the Turkish version of Alexander Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit” into Russian and a bibliography of foreign literature on the pages of Russian periodicals (1850–1880).

Keywords: translation, reverse translation, multilingualism, cultural transfer theory, M.N. Muravyov, Nikolay Gogol, Leo Tolstoy, Osip Mandelstam, Mallarné, Verlaine, Russian and French Symbolism, Griboyedov.