Translation Strategies of M. Kuzmin in Translating Shakespeare

Abstract

The article deals with the reception of the works of William Shakespeare in the translations of Mikhail Kuzmin (1872–1936). The relevance of the research is due to the insufficient study of the reception of Shakespeare’s work in the heritage of Kuzmin, including in his translation heritage. The novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive understanding of the place of Shakespeare in the creative activity of M. Kuzmin, including as a translator and theater critic; in the restoration of the Shakespearean context in the work of the author in question; in the analytical understanding of Kuzmin’s translation strategies in the context of new translations of Shakespeare in the USSR; in addressing the recently discovered translations of Shakespeare’s sonnets by Kuzmin, as well as in clarifying the literary and historical fate of these translations in the context of the original literary and musical creativity of Kuzmin himself. Particular attention is paid to the reconstruction of the Shakespearean context in the biography and work of Kuzmin using archival documents, as well as the analysis of the originality of his translation techniques and the study of the scientific value of the manuscript of 89 Shakespeare’s sonnets published in 2022 in his translation. It is noted that the attempted publication is only a project, as evidenced by the gross factual errors of the editors of the publication, the lack of the necessary scientific apparatus.