Translation approaches of the 20th-century Mongolian scholars
Analysis of Russian-Mongolian literary translations
Introduction
The influence of Russia in 20th-century Mongolian academia is far greater than any other country’s influence. Most of the Mongolian intellectuals at that time were pursuing their higher education in Russia. Every individual who studied in Russia soon became the key figure in building contemporary Mongolia in the 20th century. Until the fall of the Soviet regime, Soviet influence was strong in Mongolian politics, economy, people’s lives, and especially in academia. The most notable great intellectuals’ educational backgrounds before the democratic revolution were mainly based in Russian academia. Therefore, the prominent translation theories that got developed in the 20th century were the byproduct of those intellectuals. Today, the contemporary translation theory of the 21st century in Mongolia still takes great influence from the old translation theories of the previous century. This paper will analyze the translation approaches the Russian-Mongolian translators used in the 20th century.
20th century Mongolia
Before looking deeper into the Mongolian translation development in the 20th century, one must get familiarized with the history of 20th-century Mongolia. According to UNESCO’s “Literacy country study”, at the beginning of the 20th century, Mongolia was an underdeveloped country with a “literacy rate below 10 percent, average life expectancy below 40 years, high child mortality and almost without any formal education and health services except Buddhist faculties” (Yembuu and Munkh-Erdene 2006, 3). Mongolia gained its independence in 1911 and the Mongolian Revolution of 1921 led to 1924’s Mongolian People’s Republic. Mongolian People’s Republic was established with a new Soviet political system making it the second communist country after the Soviet Union. As a result of becoming a Soviet nation, Mongolia has gone through extensive cultural, scientific, and technological shifts. The education system was developed from scratch, nomadic people began to move into settlements such as cities and villages, and the overall health statistics of Mongolians began to improve. For instance, the average life expectancy for women was 40 and for men was 44 before 1924 (Time 2016). The life expectancy increased to 63 for women and to 58 for men by the 1990s (The World Bank 2020). The population grew 4 times bigger from 543’504 to 2’243’495 between 1924–1992 (Worldometers 2020). Mongolia experienced rapid economic growth in the 1960s and by that time it became the first Asian country to become universally literate (Amicusmongolia 2020). In 1970, Mongolia People’s Republic was awarded the UNESCO Nadezhda K.Krupskaya literacy prize (UNESCO 1978, 2) for its successful project of making the majority of its citizen literate. Overall, from the early 20th century to the end of it, under the Soviet system, the education and health rates of the citizens improved on a drastic scale. In 1990, Mongolia underwent through Democratic Revolution in which the country transitioned to a multi-party democratic system ending the Soviet government. To conclude, 20th-century Mongolian history is a significant historic period that marked the independence and the significant development of the country.
History of Contemporary Mongolian Translation
Mongolian translation history dates to the 13th century. Between 13th century to 1921, Uighur, Chinese, Persian, Samgardi, Central, and Manchurian languages were translated into the Mongolian language (“Translation Virtue” 1972, 38). Scholar and researcher G.Rinchensambuu stated that from the end of the 19th century until the early 20th century, Russian works first began to be translated into Mongolian by unknown translators. There was no evidence found that the Mongolians were translating works from other European countries except Russia until the 1950s (Ibid, 38). Mongolians were not introduced to the rest of the European works until the mid-20th century.
The focus of this paper lies between the start of the Mongolian People’s Republic, in 1924, to its end in 1990. According to the scholar and researcher G.Rinchensambuu, Mongolian literature translation development in the 20th century is divided into three parts that are between 1921–1940, 1940–1956, and 1956 to the end of the Mongolian People’s Republic in 1990. The translation works during the period of 1921–1940 mostly focused on promoting science and eliminating religious beliefs among the people. In this development phase, the government focused mainly on improving the overall education of the people by advocating science and rejecting religion.
The second part of the translation development period targeted spreading the works done by the USSR scholars and writers. The period from 1940–1956 was a significant time when socialist works and writings were widely distributed among Mongolian readers. The surge of USSR-translated writings was tied to World War I and II. In his own words, G.Rinchensambuu explains that “In order to publicize the heroic struggle of the Soviet people during the Second World War it was necessary to translate the works of Soviet writers” (Ibid, 40). Socialist scholar Rinchensambuu’s words allude to the Soviet Union’s obligation to promote socialism has increased during the World Wars.
From 1956 until the fall of the Mongolian People’s Republic, works from countries other than the USSR began to be translated in great numbers. The sphere of Mongolian translations began to widen in this period spanning the works from European, American, African, and Asian countries. The notable development in this period was that Mongolian translators began to translate directly from the source languages. As of 1972, works from the Russian, English, German, French, Chinese, Indian, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese languages were being translated to Mongolian directly (“Translation Virtue I” 1972, 41).
Prominent Translation Method
The leading Mongolian scholar of the 20th century was B. Rinchen. He was a polyglot who spoke English, French, German, Czech, Polish, Esperanto, and Russian. B.Rinchen was the Doctor of Literature, writer, and translator. From 1945 until the end of his life, he translated around 240 literary works of 70 authors from 20 countries (Buyanbadrakh 2012). His translation method was analogous to Peter Newmark’s translation theory of “Communicative translation.” S. Galsan was the scholar who made an analysis of B. Rinchen’s translations in the 20th century. He made the following observations on B. Rinchen’s translation works:
1. Sense-for-sense translation
According to S. Galsan’s analysis, scholar B. Rinchen was translating the idioms and phrases of the source language into the target language’s culture. It connects with Newmark’s theory of communicative translation’s cultural aspect of “transferring foreign elements into the target language culture” (Munday 2012). For instance, B. Rinchen’s translation of Nikolai Gogol’s “Taras Bulba” shows how the translator was bringing the source text to the target audience. In “Taras Bulba”, there is a part in which it says:
“Андрей упал как барашек (1), почувствовавший под сердцем смертельное железо” (“Andrey upal kak barashek (1), pochuvstvovavshiy pod serdtsem smertel’noye zhelezo”)
B.Rinchen translates it as:
“Андрей зүрхэндээ үхлийн сум харвуулсан янзага (1) шиг өнхрөн уналаа”
(“Andrey zүrhendee үkhliin sum kharvuulsan yanzaga (1) shig onkhrөn unalaa”)
The original sentence translates to:
“Andrey has fallen down like the lamb (1) who felt deadly iron in his heart.”
S. Galsan points out that, B. Rinchen has switched the ‘lamb’ with a ‘fawn’ in his translation because it is impossible for a Mongolian herder to imagine a shot lamb (“Translation Virtue II” 1976, 6–7). This case suggests that B. Rinchen was aware of the cultural differences between the Russian writer and the Mongolian reader that he brought the target text closer to the source reader.
2. Emphasis on the target language’s form
The respect for the form of the source language but overriding ‘loyalty’ to target language norms is one of the crucial aspects of Newmark’s “Communicative translation” (Munday 2012. )S.Galsan’s analysis of B. Rinchen’s translation methods suggests that the translator was loyal to the target language’s norms more than the source language. For instance, Mongolian is a unique language that widely uses a rhyming device like “za ma, buuz muuz, piv miv” (“okay, dumpling, beer”). In English, it expresses the concept of ‘et cetra’ or ‘and that kind of stuff’ (“Nomiin Ger”, n.d.). Mongolian is rich in multiword expressions. S. Galsan points out that B. Rinchen uses the rhyming device and adds additional multiword expressions into his translation in order to make it sound more natural to the Mongolian native readers. Therefore, he explains that the Mongolian translation usually ends up being longer than the original Russian works (“Translation Virtue II” 1976, 9).
B. Rinchen was skilled in choosing the appropriate words that sound more native to Mongolian readers. For instance, the translation of “Прямо на дороге” (“Pryamo na doroge”) was translated as “Улаан зам дээр” (“Ulaan zam deer”) in Mongolian. The source sentence says “Right on the road”, however, the translator chose to translate it as “On the red road.” In this case, ‘red’ does not bear the meaning of color, but it is expressed as ‘exact’ in a native phrase (Ibid, 9).
In his roundtable discussion with the other Mongolian linguistics scholars, he stated that “Studying our Mongolian literary heritage should be part of the knowledge of a literary translator” (“Translation Virtue III” 1975–1980, 133). Overall, B. Rinchen paid extra attention to bringing the source text to the target language norms and culture.
Case Study of Russian-Mongolian Translation of Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Pushkin’s literary works were the most influential translated writings in 20th-century Mongolian academia. Author and Russian-Mongolian translator R. Gurbazar state that “Alexander Pushkin is regarded highly among the Mongolian literary translators due to his prestigious writings about overcoming feudalism” (“Translation Virtue III” 1975–1980, 194). Pushkin’s works began to be translated in 1936 by prominent Mongolian academics, including B. Rinchen, D. Natsagdorj, and Ts. Damdinsuren (Ibid, 195). Pushkin produced a wide range of literary works, including narrative poems, plays, short stories, novels, non-fiction, and verse fairy tales. As of 1972, 90 of his compositions have been translated into Mongolian (Ibid, 197). R. Gurbazar claims that Ts. Damdinsuren’s translation of “The Song of Wise Oleg” (1822) was crucial in laying the groundwork for Russian literary translations (Ibid, 198). In an effort to establish the foundation for future literary translations from the Russian language, Ts. Damdinsuren published a translation analysis on his own translation of “The Song of Wise Oleg” in 1972.
“The Song of Wise Oleg” is a ballad based on the “Legend of the death of Oleg the Prophet” that has been romanticized by Alexander Pushkin (Leningrad, 1988). According to the legend, the death of the Oleg was prophesied by the pagan priests. The prophecy predicts that Oleg’s beloved stallion will be the reason for his demise. To refute the prophecy, Oleg decides to send his horse to a faraway place. When Oleg finally requested his horse after many years, he was told that the stallion perished. Upon hearing the news, he thought to himself “I was told by the prophecy that my beloved stallion will be the cause of my death. But my horse now perished, and I am alive. Therefore, the prophecy was faulty and pagan priests were wrong.” He then decides to go check up on his deceased horse’s remains. Upon stepping on his horse’s skull, a venomous snake slithered out of the horse’s skull and bit Oleg. The prophecy was thus fulfilled when Oleg died from the snake’s poisonous bite.
The first verse of the ballad goes as:
Original version by Alexander Pushkin
Песнь о вещем Олеге
Как ныне сбирается вещий Олег
Отмстить неразумным хозарам,
Их селы и нивы за буйный набег
Обрек он мечам и пожарам;
С дружиной своей, в цареградской броне,
Князь по полю едет на верном коне.
(Pesn’ o veshchem Olege
Kak nyne sbirayetsya veshchiy Oleg
Otmstit’ nerazumnym khozaram,
Ikh sely i nivy za buynyy nabeg
Obrek on mecham i pozharam;
S druzhinoy svoyey, v tsaregradskoy brone,
Knyaz’ po polyu yedet na vernom kone.
Mongolian translation translated by Ts. Damdinsuren
Олег цэцэн ноёнтон [1]
Олон / баатар аа / дагуулан
Тэнэг / муусайн / хозарын
Тэрслэн / дайрсны / хариуд
Гал / мэсийн / аюулаар
Газар / орныг нь / сүйтгэж
Өшөө / хорслоо / авахыг
Өнөө / завдан / бэлтгэж
Хааны / хотод / хийсэн
Хатан / хуягаа / өмсөж
Хүлэг / морио / унаад
Хөдөө тийшээ явлаа
(Olyeg tsetsen noyonton
Olon / baatar aa / daguulan
Teneg / muusain / khozaryn
Terslen / dairsny / khariud
Gal / mesiin / ayuulaar
Gazar / ornyg ni / süitgej
Öshöö / khorsloo / avakhyg
Önöö / zavdan / beltgej
Khaany / khotod / khiisen
Khatan / khuyagaa / ömsöj
Khüleg / moriio / unaad
Khödöö / tiishee / yavlaa)
English translation translated by Yuri Menis
Song of the Wise Oleg (English translation)
The wise Prince Oleg has set out to repay
Foolhardy Khazars with a vengeance;
For pillage, their dwellings, and pastures as prey
To fire and sword, the prince pledges;
In Tsargrad’s fine armor, in front of a force
Oleg heads out riding his favorite horse.
Ts. Damdinsuren decided to translate the source ballad into the Mongolian poem structure method of three words. Therefore, instead of following the pattern of end rhyme in the original version, he translated to the pattern of start-letter rhyme, which is a Mongolian poem rhyming method. Ts. Damdinsuren explains his reason to alter the translation from the original poem’s structure “In Mongolian, the poem’s readability gets difficult when the lines are long” (“Translation Virtue I” 1972, 61). He further explains that Mongolian folk ballads follow the three-word structure and that it is the responsibility of the translator to abide by the target language’s form structure (Ibid, 61).
Ts. Damdinsuren’s translation method which he used for the “Song of the Wise Oleg” adheres to Eugene Nida’s dynamic equivalence approach to translation. Nida originally coined this term in 1969 and in his own definition it is the “quality of a translation in which the message of the original text has been so transported into the receptor language that the response of the receptor is essentially like that of the original receptors” (Taber and Nida 2003, 200). The dynamic equivalence should aim to meet the following requirements, 1) Making sense; 2) Conveying the spirit and manner of the original; 3) Having a natural and easy form of expression, and 4) Producing a similar response. Ts. Damdinsuren was especially working hard to produce a similar response in the “Song of the Wise Oleg.” For instance, he translated “Цареградская броня” (“Tsaregradskaya bronya”), translates to “Armor from Tsaregrad”, into «Хааны хотод хийсэн хатан хуяг» (“Khaany hotod hiisen khatan huyag”), translates to “Armor made in the empire”. Tsaregrad was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and it has been the center of culture and education since ancient times. Ts. Damdinsuren explains that “Armor from Tsaregrad” is interpreted by a Russian reader as armor that has great quality since it was made in Tsaregrad. Therefore, he decided to switch ‘Tsaregrad’ with the ‘Empire’ because a Mongolian reader is not familiar with Tsaregrad. A reader would be more likely to associate good quality armor with the armor that is made in the ‘Empire’ rather than ‘Tsaregrad’. This case suggests that Ts. Damdinsuren was working to elicit a similar response a reader would make at the stake of completely changing the words. One can confidently say that B. Rinchen used to share the same translation method as Ts. Damdinsuren. Both translators were putting a significant emphasis on producing a similar response the target language reader would make as the source language reader would make.
Conclusion
The foundation of Mongolian translation theory and method have been laid out by the Russian-Mongolian translators in the 20th century. B. Rinchen was one of the leading scholars in the last century Mongolia and he made numerous publishing and analysis on translation methods. His method was analogous to Peter Newmark’s translation theory of “Communicative translation.” B. Rinchen paid extra attention to bringing the source text to the target language norms and culture. Ts. Damdinsuren shared a similar view with B. Rinchen in terms of bringing the source text closer to the target audience. One of the very first translation analyses of Alexander Pushkin’s “The Song of Wise Oleg” has been published by Ts. Damdinsuren in an effort to establish the foundation for future literary translations of the Russian-Mongolian language. In conclusion, Ts. Damdinsuren and B. Rinchen’s translation method suggests that in the 20th century the receptor-based orientation was regarded highly among the Mongolian literary translation methods.
[1] “Song of the Wise Oleg” is translated as a Mongolian three-word structure with the pattern of start-letter rhyme.
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