Abstract
In Tahiti is Elsa Triolet’s first book. It is a travelogue about a one-year journey to the island in 1919-1920. The text was written in Russian and published in 1924 in the Leningrad magazine Russkiy sovremennik, followed by a book edition, published in Leningrad in 1925. In the early 1960s, Triolet translated it into French; this version was included in Vol. 1 of Qiuvres romanesques croisées by Triolet and her husband Louis Aragon (1964). The paper aims to analyze the poetics of the book and compare its Russian and French versions. For a travelogue, In Tahiti has unexpectedly little action: the way to Tahiti across two oceans is paid little attention to; almost nothing happens on the island. This seems to be done on intention: Tahiti is represented as an unusually static world. There is a conflict, however, between two aspects of Tahiti’s image in Triolet’s perception. The scenery is splendid and beautiful; the people are happy and friendly; yet the island induces the deep feeling of fear and estrangement. Everything is completely alien to the narrator: both nature and culture. The alienation is reinforced by the underlying contrast between the two loci of perception - Tahiti and Russia. The recollections of Russia, though limited to several short passages, are crucial to the understanding of the book. Naturally, the writer feels nostalgic about her homeland; this feeling is expressed directly, but the reason for its intensity remains implicit, though obvious. Triolet recalls Russia as it was before 1917 - as the land of the past, where she will never return. The French translation is accurate in terms of form as well as content. However, this accuracy makes it different from its source, insomuch as it appeals to another audience. Some realia of Triolet’s homeland are designated by borrowings from Russian; certain toponyms and quotations are commented in captions and footnotes. This emphasizes Triolet’s position as a double stranger: then a European among the Tahitians, now an emigree among the French. For Triolet, the translation indicates yet another distance. There is a forty-year time lapse between the Russian and French versions, the former standing at the start of Triolet’s literary career; the latter marking its final. Beginning as a Russian writer in exile, she ends up a French writer; nevertheless, In Tahiti remains a reference point, reminding her readers of her roots. The author declares no conflicts of interests.
Published Version
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