Textual Emendation and the Potential of Translation in Rus’ian Narrative Texts

• In Event: Lensing Rus', Muscovite, and Early Imperial Russian Hierarchies through Memory Studies

Abstract

Translation was the main text-related activity in Rus’ for centuries, surpassing the input of so-called original works (which often were, after all, versions of received texts). This paper explores the use of the verb “to translate” in early Rus’ian texts diachronically and synchronically. The synchronic section focuses verbs that denote translation in pre-Mongol texts. My study will reflect on references to translation in narrative works, consisting mainly of hagiography and historical writing. A case study will contrast the word choice in the AD 1037 entry of the Radziwill and Academy Chronicles to the Laurentian, Hypatian and Khlebnikov chronicles. The diachronic section will interrogate the renditions into modern languages of the Old East Slavonic verbs of translation described in the first section. The conclusions will organically unfold into a discussion on cultural perceptions and hierarchical understandings of text-producing activity both within pre-modern Rus’ian texts and in contemporary discourse about Rus’ian culture.

Author

• Ines Garcia de la Puente, Boston U