Chapter 35 - Tolstoy in English Translation

Summary

Tolstoy, himself a polyglot, is one of the world’s most widely translated writers, with at least ten English versions of War and Peace and a good thirteen of Anna Karenina, not to mention multiple translations of the shorter works and philosophical and religious treatises. The diversity of the English Tolstoy corpus makes it impossible to come up with a clear ranking of translations based on quality. Certain unique features of the writer’s language pose particular challenges to translators, such as his tendency to repeat simple, morally loaded words at key moments; his omissions of words that usually need to be supplied in English; and the complexity of his nature descriptions. English translations of Tolstoy’s works have flowed in two parallel streams, one on each side of the Atlantic. Louise and Aylmer Maude produced the most sustained and authoritative body of Tolstoy translations. The twentieth century has seen new trends: Tolstoy’s works have become easily available on the Internet both in Russian and in English; Russia offers generous grant support to fund translations of classic Russian literature; and a new authoritative Academy collected works is underway, which will surely necessitate revisions of translations, or production of new ones.