Text Aesthetics in M. Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and its Reflection in the Russian Version of the Novel (Revisiting Translation Adequacy)

The present article looks at how the translator’s creativity can adequately reconcile with the objective necessity for him/ her to follow the letter of the original. The case study of the Russian version of M. Atwood’s 1984 dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale”, the latter literally bristling with metaphor and simile, demonstrates a great importance of adequately conveying the text’s poetic function.

In our approach, inspired by G. Bachelard’s phenomenological theory of space, we view Offred’s monologue as a kind of revery, herself – as a day-dreaming subject going through an emotional ordeal. It should be noted that in modern psychology, Offred’s revery, including her memories and fantasies, can be regarded as a product of the “wanderings” of her mind. To look deeper into Offred’s subconscious and bring out her most personal emotions we apply cognitive linguistic tools. We also turn to Atwood’s early poetry since the “Tale” told by Offred the Handmaid manifests evocative images and motives typical of the peculiar Atwoodian style.

Specifically, we have focused on contexts, in which nature-inspired images produced by the protagonist’s “wandering mind” and unfolding within innumerable metaphors and similes, unveil the ambiguity of human nature and the eerie side of life in the fictional Republic of Gilead. The cognitive analysis of the original contexts has demonstrated the equal value of metaphor and simile as major literary devices for creating character profile and even for constructing a complex plot. We have studied how those extremely diverse figures of speech are conveyed by the translator, Anastasia B. Gryzunova. Despite the many occasions when she succeeded in conveying the meaning of Atwood’s unconventional comparisons, her version, however, lacks a clear-cut translation strategy which results in a dissonance between Offred’s deep depression and the way the translator actually makes her sound in some parts of the text.

Acknowledging the positive role of the translator’s creativity, we emphasize the need for translation adequacy interpreted as consistency in pursuing a strategy that builds on the key ideas of the source text, the author’s intention and her individual style. Such view on the nature of adequacy is in line with scientifically based evaluation methods for poetic prose, of which Atwood’s acclaimed dystopian novel is no doubt a remarkable example.

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