COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TRANSLATIONS OF H. HEINE’S POEMS BY RUSSIAN POETS OF THE XIX CENTURY A.N. MAIKOV AND A.A. FET

Abstract

In this research the authors analyze translations of H. Heine’s poems done by Russian poets A.N. Maikov and A.A. Fet in terms of accuracy and preservation of the national content, reveal reasons for following principles of literal translation made by A. Fet. A comparative analysis of the translations of Heine’s poems by Fet and Maikov makes it possible to demonstrate the trend towards literal translation that emerged in the 40-60s in the history of Russian literary translation, which is explained, firstly, by the historical prospects for the general development of Russian literature: the objective orientation of the literature of the mid-ХIХ century outlined objective trends in poetic translation as well, which resulted in the requirement of literal accuracy. Secondly, it is no coincidence that it is A. Fet who becomes a supporter of the literal principle in poetic translation and achieves high skill in this area: a German by birth, who knew the German language from childhood, moreover, from childhood he felt the rhythm of German verse (Fet from the age of seven translated Campe’s children fables for years, trying to translate them into Russian exclusively in verse), on the one hand, and having grown up in Russia, he considered Russian his native language, on the other hand, he was thus in a bilingual situation and, like no one else, could and was called upon to cope with this historical task set before literary translation by time.