To hit, or not to hit…
Dr Maria Razumovskaya’s blog, following the story of Guildhall School’s involvement in the UK-Russia Year of Music.
Words are pretty important. The English adage — ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ — sums up their power in much the same way as Soviet-Russian writers were considered ‘engineers of the soul.’ Is not the Russian adage — ‘a word is not a sparrow, if it flies away it cannot be caught’ — uttered to calm a raging refusal on the tip of one’s tongue, the slightly more impulsive equivalent of the quintessentially English ‘can I think about it?’
Being bilingual from an early age I prided myself on my ability to float effortlessly (or so it seemed to me) between Russian and English.
Exploring the intersections between Russian and British words and music as part of the British Council’s programme for the UK-Russia Year of Music, however, has really made me stop and think. If I could sum up the most important recurring thought it is this: (mis)translation.
We often think of accidents (including those pesky little ‘accidents’) in translation. But how often do we consider the subconscious accidental or deliberate alterations we make to the meaning when moving between languages?
Putting some final touches to the last coaching sessions on the Russian songs perfectly demonstrated just how innocent this mistranslation can be. Tackling some Shakespeare re-translated into Russian everything was going wonderfully well, until I hear the impassioned words — ‘Бить, или не бить?’
‘Sorry?’, I ask. ‘What was that?’
‘Бить, или не бить [bit’, ili ne bit’],’ came the quick reassertion.
Бить — is the verb meaning to punch, hit or beat. ‘To beat, or not to beat?’ Yes, indeed that is a question. As captured in this painting by the Russian avant garde artist El Lissitzky, it is (бей) what the Reds did to the Whites.
But, pronounce the и (i) as a hard sound ы — and you get ‘Быть, или не быть?’ — ‘To be, or not to be?’ Now that is an entirely different question!
It’s a very slippery line, and one that this blog will return to soon!
Find out more about Guildhall School events in the UK-Russia Year of Music.
Read the first blog post of this series, ‘To Russia with Song!’
