LEV NİKOLAYEVİÇ TOLSTOY’UN ÇEVİRİ FAALİYETLERİNEDAİR BİR İNCELEME

Edebî çeviri, Rusya'da ilk olarak antik edebiyat ürünlerinin Antioh Dimitriyeviç Kantemir tarafından çevrilmesinden günümüze kadar birçok ünlü Rus sanatçının ilgi alanı olmuş, yaratıcılıklarına katkı sağlamıştır. Vladimir Nabokov, Boris Pasternak, Korney Çukovski, İvan Bunin, Anna Ahmatova, Nikolay Gumilyov, Marina Tsvetayeva, Konstantin Paustovski, Nikolay Çernişevski, Lev Tolstoy bu isimlerden yalnızca birkaçıdır. Edebî çeviri Sovyet döneminde yasaklı yazar ve şairler için sığınacakları bir liman, ekmek kapısı olsa da XIX. yüzyıl Rus yazar ve şairlerinin çeviri amacı için aynı şeyleri söylemek mümkün değildir. Edebî çeviri bu yüzyılda kültürler arası köprüler inşa etmeye yardımcı olmuştur. Bu çalışmada Tolstoy'un çeviri ile kurduğu ilişkiye ve bu alandaki faaliyetlerine değinilmiştir. Yazarın külliyatı, günlükleri ve mektupları, hakkında yazılan kitaplar incelendiğinde konuyla ilgili geniş bilgiye rastlamak mümkündür: Tolstoy dünya edebiyatının önemli isimlerini Rus okuyucusuyla buluşturmuş, çağdaşlarının yaptığı çevirileri tashih etmiştir. Yoğun işlerinden dolayı yetişemediği durumlarda bazı kitapların çevrilmesini çevirmen arkadaşlarından rica etmiştir. Çeviri yapan oğlunu desteklemiş, baldızına tercüme ettirdiği eserin yayınlanması için yayıncılara mektup göndermiştir. Çalışmanın kapsamını Tolstoy'un yaşadığı dönemin çeviri edebiyatına dolaylı katkılarından ziyade bizzat yapmış olduğu çeviriler oluşturmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı geniş bir yelpazede eser veren, yazar ve filozof kimliğiyle ön plana çıkan Tolstoy'un çevirmen kimliğine dikkat çekmek, bu kimliğin oluşma sürecindeki detayların gün ışığına çıkmasını sağlamaktır. Tolstoy'un çevirmen yönünün iki ana başlık altında mercek altına alındığı bu çalışmada yazarın yazın ve çeviri çalışmalarının miladının kronolojik açıdan paralellik gösterdiği, yalnızca insanlığa katkı sağlayacağını düşündüğü metinlerin çevirisi için emek harcadığı tespit edilmiştir

AN ANALYSIS ON TRANSLATION STUDIES OF LEV NIKOLAYEVICH TOLSTOY

Literary translation has been a field of most famous Russian artists since the first translation of ancient literary works by Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir and it has contributed to their creativity. Vladimir Nabokov, Boris Pasternak, Korney Chukovsky, Ivan Bunin, Anna Akhmatova, Nikolay Gumilyov, Marina Tsvetaeva, Konstantin Paustovsky, Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Lev Tolstoy are a few of these names. Though literary translation was a safe harbour and bread and butter for banned writers and poets in Soviet period, it is not possible to tell the same things about Russian writers and poets in 19th century. Literary translation helped to build bridges between cultures in this century. In this paper, the relation that Tolstoy established with translation, his studies in this field were tackled. It is possible to find extensive information by analysing Tolstoy’s oeuvre, diaries, letters and books written about him: Tolstoy presented important names of world literature to Russian readers, and corrected translations of his contemporaries. In times when he couldn’t complete due to intense work, he requested his friends who are translator to translate some books. He encouraged his son who makes translations, sent letters to publishers to publish the work which he made his sister-in-law translate. Translations made by Tolstoy himself rather than his indirect contributions to translation in that period were included in the Scope of the paper. Aim of the study is to draw attention to translator identity of Tolstoy who wrote in wide range of fields, became prominent as writer and philosopher, and reveal the details in establishment process of this identity. In this paper, Tolstoy’s characteristic as translator was examined under two main topics: Bible Translations and Other Translation Works. Tolstoy doubted that many religious dogma and illogical situations about Christianity mentioned in the Bible were added by church and state authority and he frequently conveyed these doubts through his works and discourses. A Confession is one of his works in which he indicated that he didn’t believe sincerity of Christianity. While approaching with suspicion to the religion he belonged to, Tolstoy started to write the story of his religious quests in 1879 without thinking to publish them. In May 1880, his Bible researches became more serious and “a new Bible translation” idea came up in that period. At that stage, Tolstoy started to analyze the Bibles written in Greek and their interpretations. He prepared a substructure for such a study with learning Greek many years ago. Annotated Composition and New Translation of the Four Gospels took Tolstoy’s years. He made a break in corresponding with his friends and publishers and closeted himself. His friends couldn’t understand the importance of that translation study he was working on. But Tolstyoy thought that what he was making would be beneficial for mankind. In that period, in which Tolstoy devoted himself to his study, not only his wife but his friends also were worried about him. Tolstoy continued translating the Bibel without hesitation on those hard times, although he predicted the Lev Nikolayeviç Tolstoy’un Çeviri Faaliyetlerine Dair Bir İnceleme 773 Turkish Studies International Periodical For the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic Volume 10/8 Spring 2015 consequences he might be faced. Besides being a though mental labour, process of analyzing and translating the Bible appeared in Tolstoy’s memories as a huge spiritual rising. In virtue of the Bible translation, from which he mentioned as his unique work, Tolstoy created revolutionary changes in perception of Christianity in Russia. Translations of Tolstoy were not limited with the Bible translation. His first notes about his translation studies appeared in his diary (1852) coinciding in same period with his first work Childhood (1852). He wrote about his translation on different days of 1852 in his diary. However, he didn’t consider writing the text that he was translating necessary. With following the chronological order, the next translation of the author can be found in his letter written to Mikhail Katkov a literary critic, on 3rd January 1865. In this letter, Tolstoy said that he translated the literary correspondence between Mariya Volkova, belonged to Moscow high society, and her distant relative Varvara Lanskaya in 1812 and these letters, now, take an important place in Russian Literature. While translating these letters, Tolstoy thought about writing War and Peace and in the first editions of the book these letter translations were used without revised. The next translation of Tolstoy was concerned with the novel War and Peace. Tolstoy wrote a considerable part of the dialogues (2%) in the novel in French. But, after the novel had been published, ciritcs wrote up their negative opinions about the novel because of the large number of French dialogues. Thereupon, Tolstoy translated the French dialogues in Russian for the next edition. Having read the Aesop’s Fables, Tolstoy decided to added fables to his book Azbuka, which he wrote for children, and started to translate Aesop’s Fables. He thought that Azbuka, in which he added approximately fifty translated fables, was a better work than War and Peace. In the year of 1885, he started to translate Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. He thought that this work would be beneficial to mankind too. Teaching of the Twelve Apostles was published in 1883 in Istanbul after it had been found in a library of a monestry in 1875. In 1885, Tolstoy decided to translate his work by himself after he had read its original version. Although the translation was published, it didn’t published by Tolstoy’s name on the occasion of possible problems. When the chronological order of Tolstoy’s translations is traced, it can be seen that in his letter written to V. G. Chertkov, he made a translation from French author Benardin de St. Pierre in 1887. Tolstoy continued to his translation studies with works of famous French author, translator and philosopher Etienne de La Boétie. He wanted to add some parts of La Boétie’s work to his philosophicalencyclopedic book Cycle of Readings, but he translated La Boétie’s work to Russian by himself because nobody had translated La Boétie before Tolstoy. From the ancient age to modern day, just as a lot of many other Russian authors’ and poets’, literary translation took an important place in life of respectable author Lev Tolstoy. It’s not a concidence that his translation studies and literary works coinciding in same period. Because he always knew that authors can increse their intellectual capacities and gain wider perspective with translation studies which open windows to other words. Another reason directing the author to literary translation was his believe that translation contributed to improvement of one’s memory and writing skills. We can assume that the translations he mentioned in his diary were be made on the basis of that belief. In his years of discretion, he only made translations of writings that attracted him with their poetics and got on with his literary tastes and more important, he made translation of works with which he thought that he could serve to humanity. While translating these works, he used a plain language because he thought that translations not appeal to community were far from eloquence. However, these translations of Tolstoy couldn’t made the same impression as his novels. In some cases, Tolstoy felt humiliated and affronted. But he never disputed from his works. He said “… its the most beautiful idea work of my own, its the unique work that one write in his/her whole life.” about his Bible translation and he thought that his book including the translations of Aezop’s Fables was better than War and Peace. Tolstoy paid a price for his translation studies which he did for being helpful to mankind. For example, censor comitee prohibited the printing of almost every tanslation, translations could only be published on abroad, translations of himself were not published by his name in his own country because of possible problems, his friends and relatives didn’t understand him and he was removed from the church. But none of them could discourage Tolstoy, he explicitly uttered that he could serve his time in prison and agreed to exile for that cause. He used his translations not only for serving to mankind, he also used them in his works to enrich them. Another important issue that we did not mention for not straying from the point of this work, of which frame was composed of relation between Tolstoy and literary translation, is the relation between Tolstoy and his translators. In conducted research that was made both in Russian and Turkish, it couldn’t be found any works about the relations of Tolstoy and his translators. But that kind of a work will surely contribute to author’s unknown characteristics.

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