A review of Adrian Wanner. 2020. The Bilingual Muse: Self-Translation among Russian Poets. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.

Piotr Florczyk

doi:10.25167/exp13.20.8.9

Abstract

A review of Adrian Wanner. 2020. The Bilingual Muse: Self-Translation among Russian Poets. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.

Highlights

Wanner opens his Introduction by asking if self-translating or writing poetry in a foreign tongue can be done successfully
Adrian Wanner’s study of seven Russian poets—Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Brodsky, Andrey Gritsman, Katia Kapovich, Marina Tsvetaeva, Wassily Kandinsky, and Elizaveta Kul’man—who translated their own work into English, French, German, or Italian, is a welcome addition to the burgeoning field of translingualism studies
The case of Marina Tsvetaeva, whose self-translation of Mólodets into Le Gars is the focus of the excellent Chapter Three, adds yet another dimension to this discussion

Summary

Introduction

Wanner opens his Introduction by asking if self-translating or writing poetry in a foreign tongue can be done successfully. The Bilingual Muse: Self-Translation among Russian Poets. Adrian Wanner’s study of seven Russian poets—Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Brodsky, Andrey Gritsman, Katia Kapovich, Marina Tsvetaeva, Wassily Kandinsky, and Elizaveta Kul’man—who translated their own work into English, French, German, or Italian, is a welcome addition to the burgeoning field of translingualism studies.

Results

Conclusion