The Galosh and Other Stories by Mikhail s> Zoshchenko Jeremy Hicks (review)

Abstract

332 SEER, 8o, 2, 2002 based.Certainly thebookconstitutes anexcellentintroduction to Zamiatin's novelandwillaidgreatlyinunderstanding oneofthemostcomplicated texts ofRussiantwentieth-century literature. University ofN\ottingham PETER CARTWRIGHT and EVGENY DOBRENKO Zoshchenko, Mikhail. TheGaloshand Other Stories. Translated and edited by Jeremy Hicks.Angel Books,London, 2000. 2I3 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Glossary.?9.95 (paperback). As any reader familiar with Mikhail Zoshchenko's works will remember, dialect, slang, and skazare all notable elements of the speech employed by characters in his texts. The substandardnarratorialspeech is a particularly important yet particularlydifficult aspect of the texts to convey. This figures as the primary challenge in producing a translation of Zoshchenko's short stories;in 7he Galosh andOther Stories, the most comprehensive arrayof these texts in English,Jeremy Hicks has conscientiously attempted to avoid the pitfalls of previous translators. Though Hicks's tendency towards late twentieth-centuryBritishslang (as he notes) might at times seem awkwardor unnaturalto a North American reader,his effortsatlanguage which is neither culturally nor temporally specific are generally successful; however, it is unlikelythatpermanency is a realisticgoal for any translation.Hicks identifies 'misconceived approaches to the language of Zoshchenko's narrator'as the most significantflawsin earliertranslations,explaining that the present-tense narration has, in past translation efforts, often led to reading some of the stories as slapstick(p. 20). On the other hand, this complicating quality gives Zoshchenko'stexts theirimmediacy. This book provides a much more thorough introduction to Zoshchenko's short storiesthan any previousedition;however, his workis stillnot as widely known outside the formerSoviet Union as within it. Comic shortstories,most of which were written in the I920S, comprise most of the chronologically arrangedvolume. Almost halfof the sixty-fivestoriesin thevolume have never before been translatedinto English. In his introduction to the volume, Hicks provides a social and literary backdropfor the texts and theirwry assessmentof Soviet life in the I920s and 1930S. Though critics of satire deemed it unnecessary after 'the Soviet state had set up the proper legal procedures for uncovering and eradicating social ills',Sovietcitizenssurelydisagreed:Zoshchenkomaintainedthata substantial amount of his source materialconsistedof newspaperarticlesand lettersfrom readers(p. 9). The volume's academic introductionand selected bibliographyindicate an orientation towardsthe specialistreader. However, the presence of a glossary seems to indicate accommodation of the non-specialistreader as well. At the end of the volume, a glossaryis provided, along with a list of source texts and suggestionsforfurtherreading.Though Zoshchenko'sprestigeand readership have increased in the post-Thaw period, there is a lack of contemporary translations of his work. This volume contributes material of interest to academics and recreationalreadersalike. Specialistswill be interestedto note REVIEWS 333 that the stories 'A Bathhouse' and 'A Dogged Sense of Smell' appear as translationsof the originaltextspublishedin Begemot and Smekhach respectively rather than the more common book-published versions. Hicks admits his subjectivity in the selection of variant source texts, which is of course the translator'sprerogative. 'Galosh' presumably has been selected as the title story because it exemplifiesthe tragicomicfrustrationsof Soviet life. That said, any numberof the storiesin the volume would have servedjust as well. As Hicks comments, the stories demonstrate 'one of the greatest feats of the peoples of the Soviet Union: their gallows humour, their laughterin the face of absurdityand evil. The tragedyof the Soviet Union has universalrepercussions,and itsportrayal as tragicomedyhas universalrelevance' (p. I8). A quality translation, of course, aims to preserve both meaning and style. In the past, attempting a Zoshchenko translation free of lost meaning or nuance often proved to be an exercise in futility. It is difficultto judge the durabilityof this volume, but as Hicks reminds us, 'Translationis always an attempt to minimize losses, and to fail better' (p. 22). Hicks should be commended for his efforts:he has produced translationsevokingearly Sovietera speech and Zoshchenko's verbal intricacies while resonating with the twenty-firstcenturyreader. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ELIZABETH SKOMP University College London Tarnawsky,Ostap. Vidome ipozavidome. Ukrainskamoderna literatura.Chas, Kyiv, I999. 584 pp. Notes. Index. Priceunknown. Lanovyk, Zoriana. OstapTarnawsky. Missionar, L'viv, I998. I8o pp. Illustrations . Notes. Bibliography.Price unknown. OSTAP TARNAWSKY (I9 I7-I 992) belongs to the category of writerswho, due to the expansion of the Soviet totalitarian regime, was forced to leave his homeland in WesternUkraine duringWorldWarII and emigrateto theWest. His tragedy, like that of the majority...