Creative Works of Alfred Tennyson in Russian (Not Found, Not Published and Lost)

Abstract

In the last decades in Russia the interest of researchers to problems of Russian perception of Alfred Tennyson has been essentially increased. It was expressed in particular by issuing the article by A.N.Girivenko «Tennyson in Russia: The history of perception» (1993), which included the bibliography of Russian translations, the complimented bibliography prepared by L.I.Volodarskaya and printed as an appendix to the edition of a new translation of «Idylls of the King» executed by V.V.Lunin (2001); monograph by V.K.Chernin «Alfred Tennyson and Russia: From history of the international literary ties» (2009); anthologies «Alfred Tennyson in Russian translations of XIX – early XX century» (2014) carried out by D.N.Zhatkin and V.K.Chernin. It gives the complete overview of nowadays Russian translations and transpositions of Alfred Tennyson. At the same time it is necessary to confess that only the Russian translational reception of Alfred Tennyson’s works done in the period previous to 1917 have been comprehended at a worthy scientific level, whereas the Russian translations of subsequent time and literary-critical problems of perception of texts of the English Poet Laureate in Russia, the tradition of his creativity in works of Russian writers have not been practically studied. «The Russian theme» which is traditionally considered as the reflection of poet’s ideological and political views in his poems devoted to actual events of the international life (Russian suppression of the Polish revolt in 1830-1831, the Crimean war of 1853-1856, etc.) has been comprehended in a one-sided manner, whereas the meetings of Tennyson with Russian writers that are also of great interest, require ordering the facts of his acquaintance with their works. In this article there named the Russian translations of Tennyson that remain not found («Enoch Arden» by I.A.Bunin, some translations by S.M.Gorodetsky, N.S.Tikhonov, etc.), not printed (translations by E.S.Kudasheva, I.G.Shumsky, etc.) or forgotten («Dead Soldier» by English scientist-polyglot Donald MacAlister, the publication of translation of «Cradle Song» by L.N.Martynov («The Wind of these coasts…»), carried out in Omsk in the middle of 1940th, etc.). As response in original works of Russian writers to the image of Lady Godiva from Tennyson’s poem of the same name there can be traditionally mentioned the poem by O.E.Mandelstam «With the majestic world I was only childishly connected…» (1931). The image has drawn attention of not only O.E.Mandelstam but of I.Severyanin, D.D.Burlyuk, I.A.Aksenov, A.S.Grin, and G.M.Shergova as well, and this fact allows to say that Tennyson’s tradition has not been studied in the Russian literature yet. There has also been examined the possible influence of «In Memoriam» by Tennyson on creative works of such Russian writers as N.M.Minsky, A.A.Akhmatova, V.A.Merkurieva.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s4p228