On Solzhenitsyn, for practice...

A practice translation of the first two paragraphs of a piece by Nicolas Bonnal at Les 4 Vérités, titled Soljenitsyne, le dernier écrivain européen (Solzhenitsyn, the Last European Writer:

Soljenitsyne est mort, et avec lui une certaine idée de l’homme et de la littérature. C’est la littérature d’avant le désastre, d’avant Coelho ou Harry Potter, Sulitzer ou les best-sellers de plage, la littérature de Voltaire et de Rousseau, de Hugo ou même de Sartre, la littérature qui peut et veut changer le monde.

Solzhenitsyn is dead, and with him died a certain concept of man and of literature. It was the literature of before the disaster, of before Coelho or Harry Potter or Sulitzer or of best-sellers to be read at the beach; it was the literature of Voltaire and Rousseau, of Hugo, or even of Sartre. It was literature that could change the world, and wanted to.

La littérature des génies et des créateurs, pas celle des 750 nouveaux romans de la rentrée littéraire et des auteures à la mode qui viennent montrer leur derrière ou leur maquillage à la téloche à une heure de plus en plus avancée de la nuit. C’est aussi la littérature qui dérange vraiment, comme celle d’Orwell, de Céline ou de Pirandello, la littérature qui titille les imbéciles et les chiens de garde. Mendiant ingrat comme Bernanos ou Léon Bloy, Soljenitsyne a envoyé paître les démocraties bien-pensantes, pas celle des Grecs ou des républiques italiennes, celles de l’effet de serre et de l’abrutissement planétaire des super-héros.

It was the literature of genius and creativity, not that of the 750 new novels of the literary season or of the fashionable authors who come to show their backsides or their made-up faces on the tube at ever-later hours of the night. It is also truly disturbing literature, like that of Orwell, or Céline, or Pirandello. It is literature that titillates imbeciles and guard dogs. An ungrateful peasant like Bernanos or Léon Bloy, Solzhenitsyn sent the right-minded democracies – not that of the Greeks or of the Italian republics, but those of the greenhouse effect and the global mind-numbing effects of superheros – out to pasture.

I am not entirely sure what "la littérature d’avant le désastre" might be alluding to. Might this be a reference to the time "before the fall" of the Soviet Union?

Cheers...

UPDATE: LJer ethelshai suggests that

"La littérature d'avant le désastre" in the context of this article is a criticism of extreme-contemporary literary works, considered as being rubbish by the author of the article. He says that books by Coelho or the Harry Potter series are almost insults to literature, in a nutshell.

This makes sense, and upon reflection, I think the translation might just stand as-is.

Rainy day language research...

Having run across some quotes from Solzhenitsyn's 1978 commencement speech at Harvard in the Bonnal article, I found myself comparing French and English versions of that speech. The English version available online (from Columbia University) seems to be saying almost the same things as the French, but not as well:

Après avoir souffert pendant des décennies de violence et d’oppression, l’âme humaine aspire à des choses plus élevées, plus brûlantes, plus pures que celles offertes aujourd’hui par les habitudes d’une société massifiée, forgées par l’invasion révoltante de publicités commerciales, par l’abrutissement télévisuel, et par une musique intolérable. - as quoted in the Bonnal article

After the suffering of decades of violence and oppression, the human soul longs for things higher, warmer and purer than those offered by today's mass living habits, introduced by the revolting invasion of publicity, by TV stupor and by intolerable music. - The Augustine Club at Columbia University, 1997

After having suffered decades of violence and oppression, the human soul longs for higher, more impassioned, and purer things than those offered today by the habits of a mass society, forged by an appalling invasion of commercial advertising, television-induced stupor, and intolerable music. - my translation

In the end, with the exception of a differing interpretation for "brûlant" (if the French is correct, the English surely isn't "warmer"), my version looks like the Columbia version, though with some elbow grease applied.

As I did this exercise, it struck me that there must be a Russian version of this text (and there is, here, at least), which stands a good chance of being the authoritative text - surely Aleksandr Isaevich would've composed his speech in Russian - though with the usual caveats on post-delivery edits. Here is the relevant Russian and my translation:

Душа человека, исстрадавшаяся под десятилетиями насилия, тянется к чему-то более высокому, более тёплому, более чистому, чем может предложить нам сегодняшнее западное массовое существование, как визитной карточкой предпосылаемое отвратным напором реклам, одурением телевидения и непереносимой музыкой.

The human soul, which has suffered decades of violation, longs for something higher, warmer, and purer than can be offered today by Western mass existence, which presents a bilious rush of advertising, television-induced stupor, and unendurable music as its calling card.

One gets the feeling that the deeper one digs, the muddier things become. Notice the Russian does speak of "higher, warmer, and purer" longings, so the French "brûlant" is probably not the best word choice (though I'll be dipped if I can suggest something better).

The mind boggles.

If I were translating the Bonnal article for pay, I'd go with my first translation (of the French, into English). However, it seems to me that what we see here is a rather elaborate game of "telephone," where the true meaning is lost in translation.

Hmmm... "lost in translation"... sounds like a catchy phrase.

Cheers...