«TRANSLATION OF “RUSTAM AND ZOHRAB” BY VASILY ZHUKOVSKY AS A PHENOMENON OF TRANSCULTURAL COMMUNICATION»

Abstract

The concept of transcultural communication implies going beyond the boundaries of one culture and forming a special “transitional” space, in which different national cultures, different types of art, and texts in different languages meet. As a result, there emerges a special multicultural field, in which the individual, while preserving a national identity, is open to the influence of diverse cultural practices. Zhukovsky translated the piece “Rustam and Zohrab” from Firdausi’s epic Shah-nameh in 1846–1847 in the process of transcultural communication. The work on the translation went in several stages. Zhukovsky first read the Persian epic in a German retelling by the critic and publicist Johann Joseph Görres (Gorres, J. J. (1820). Das Heldenbuch von Iran aus dem Schah Nameh des Firdussi. Berlin: Reimer).  Zhukovsky further read another German version of “Rustam and Zohrab” translated in verse by Friedrich Rückert (Rückert, F. (1838). Rostem und Suhrab. Eine Heldengeschichte in 12 Buchern. Erlangen: Th. Biasing). This book has been preserved in the poet’s book collection with his numerous notes in it. Zhukovsky’s translation of “Rustam and Zohrab” is a free imitation of Rückert. Its central episode is the duel between father and son. Zhukovsky enhanced the ethical pathos of Rückert’s poem in the translation, depicting a live human in the supreme ruler. Zhukovsky also introduced new episodes into the translation: the appearance of the maiden Gurdaferid before the dying Zohrab and presentation of the horse with the Zohrab. In these fragments, Zhukovsky largely relies on the leading images and motifs of his romantic lyrics and the tradition of Russian folk tales. Thus, Zhukovsky’s version of “Rustam and Zohrab” as a transcultural translation is based on an episode from Firdausi’s Persian epic written in Farsi, which the Russian poet perceived through the German language. The German source was the basis for the Russian translation.