Russian Byron in the XXI Century: Notes on Modern Translations of Sun of the Sleepless

Abstract

This work reviews and analyses translations of Byron’s poem Sun of the Sleepless in modern Russia. Fourteen translations of this poem that appeared on the Internet from 2000 to 2021 serve as a case study. Of the ten authors, only two are professionally connected with literature. The rest are amateur translators. Analysis of the texts showed that, according to the classification of translations created by R.R. Tchaikovsky and E.L. Lyskenkova, all discovered translations are divided into four groups: translations-variations, translations-modifications, imitations and poems based on the original. Six translations-variations continue the traditions of the Russian translation school, conveying the form and content of the original with varying degrees of accuracy. Translations-modifications are characterized by a greater degree of freedom. They do not convey the form of the original, they make changes to the contents of the original, but their connection with Byron’s text is easily traced. Another group of texts refers to imitation translations: the author created five versions of the text, which are connected with the original only by an attempt to preserve the poetic meter and vocabulary. One more poem can be considered written to the motive of Sun of the Sleepless. The content of these texts differs sharply from the original. Here we can say that reading Byron awakened in the authors the need for their own creativity. A review of translations shows that Byron's lyrics are still in demand in Russia.