Talk:Constance Garnett

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When, where and how Constance Garnett learned Russian[edit]

So she studies Latin and Greek, then teaches in a school, and then all of a sudden in her early thirties starts translating Russian masterpieces? Aren't we missing some important info here? Did her knowledge of Russian (which we can assume to be fairly profound) spring up from nowhere? Some clarification needed.Palefire 02:25, Dec 18, 2004 (UTC)

ODNB says "the Russian exile F. V. Volkhovsky . . . the latter taught her Russian and supervised her first translation exercise, Goncharov's Obyknovennaya istoriya (A Common Story).", this was not in Cambridge (as the current version of the WP article states) but after her marriage in 1889. === Vernon White (talk) 22:37, 19 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The quality of Consatnce Garnett's translations from the Russian[edit]

(Response to first contribution in last paragraph)

I speak Russian, but I've also read several of Garnett's dreadful translations. "Profound" is not an adjective I would apply to her knowledge of Russian. :-) --dablaze 08:15, Jan 13, 2005 (UTC)

Yes, her translations are notoriously weak, and if there had been more competition around at the time she would probably never have had her stuff published. But all the same, by any non-professional standards, she must have known Russian fairly well to have waded through all those weighty tomes. I work as a freelance Russian-English translator, and I can imagine what a Herculean task translating War and Peace would be. And I really don't see how a Latin and Greek teacher managed it at all.Palefire 08:26, Feb 11, 2005 (UTC)

I'd be interested in some specific criticisms of her work as to its inaccuracy, and the types of passages she excised, as well as some references to those criticisms levelled against Garnett. Some worthy alternative translations would also be appreciated. Otherwise, what we have here is unhelpful hearsay.--24.7.10.194 17:05, 23 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It seems that for everyone who excoriates Garnett, there's another critic who thinks her work had its advantages. I think those concerned about Garnett's howlers should first assure themselves that other translators don't have similar faults. --Andersonblog 19:38, 19 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I would have to agree that other translators often make mistakes that Garnett is guilty of. However, does anyone know if it was the style of the time to make similar translations? For example, her translation of Crime and Punishment (my version at least) only translated the Russian. The French sayings were left as they were (in French). There was also a noticable lack of footnotes (I believe there was three in the entire novel; maybe four) was this the way novels were typically translated at the time, or was it her personal decision? Nowadays, anything that is translated (T. S. Elliot's The Wasteland, for example) is translated entirely and the footnotes are occassionally longer than the text itself. --204.57.107.52 (talk) 20:14, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's odd, because I just finished reading her translation of The Brothers Karamazov and all non-English phrases (i.e. French, etc.) were translated, even though some of them were pretty evident (to me, at least). The endnotes weren't overly abundant, but they did exist. I don't know, however, if this is just an outside editor or the actual author. I have chosen a different translator as I now begin Crime and Punishment (Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky) Vincent Valentine 13:51, 14 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

translation date of Lady With Lapdog[edit]

Hi, the translated text of s:Lady With Lapdog doesnt indicate when it was translated. As I understand it, unless we know when, it is a possible copyvio, however Project Gutenburg has published it[1] so perhaps I am wrong. Any ideas? John Vandenberg 13:26, 7 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A bookseller is offering on AbeBooks: THE TALES OF TCHEHOV, VOL. 3; THE LADY WITH THE DOG AND OTHER STORIES; Chatto & Windus (1919). Does that help? == Vernon White (talk) 22:59, 7 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

this one ... certainly does help ... from that it appears to be OCLC 1407553, and it was published in the US OCLC 2522081, which is sufficient to verify the translation was done before 1923 (see s:Template:PD-1923). John Vandenberg 23:18, 7 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That begs the question, is "Lady With Lapdog" the same as "The lady with the dog" ? Also, the OCLC metadata for the US edition doesnt mention Garnett. John Vandenberg 23:23, 7 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

From the UCL catalogue, there is a Chekhov short story "Dama s sobachkoĭ" and BABELFISH translates "sobachkoĭ" as "dog" not "lapdog". ===Vernon White (talk) 17:39, 8 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If I'm not mistaken, 'dog' is "sobaka", which would make "sobachka" a diminutive that could reasonably be rendered 'lapdog'. Douglas W. Boone, 15-Apr-2012 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.138.4.58 (talk) 14:12, 15 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Picture of Garnett?[edit]

I'm too ignorant to put an image in the article, but this site has a photo that would appear to be in the public domain. --Andersonblog 19:38, 19 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ending on a positive note[edit]

I've added a few minor points to this article to freshen it up. Also, I think it's important to end on a positive note. After all, in spite of her blunders (and all translators make them more often than their readers know!) she single-handedly introduced the giants of Russian literature to readers of English. Her work had an enormous impact on English literature.

Her only serious competition was the American translator Isabel Hapgood (1850-1928), who was a friend of Tolstoy. Hapgood's translations sound wooden and awkward, at least to my ears.

--Jrusk (talk) 14:43, 2 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't want to be too pedantic, but I'm considering editing this article based on the statement that 'she single-handedly introduced the giants of Russian literature to readers of English'. Whilst I acknowledge that she made significant contributions for many major authors, George Calderon's translations of The Cherry Orchard and The Seagull appeared in 1912, whereas Garnett's were published about a decade later in 1923. Calderon also introduced much of the terminology used to describe Chekhov's theatrical method (centrifugal method, group emotions, etc), but unfortunately died in the first world war.

A reference for this is his translation of the above-mentioned plays, edition: Two plays by Anton Tchekhov: The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard. New York, Mitchell Kennerley. 1912.

Serfork (talk) 07:04, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nabokov's opinion[edit]

While I know it was rather sexist, I don't remember Nabokov's exact ideal concerning male and female translation of Russian into English. Was it made specifically in reference to Constance Garnett? Could someone please make it a little more clear why it's relevant to this page? I don't feel like I have the expertise to the edits myself. IAmAaron2 (talk) 20:08, 9 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]