Carroll

The contributors to the Limerick competition – Christine, Laura and Susan –would have certainly charmed another amateur poet, Charles Dodgson. We know him as Lewis Carroll, which is his pen name, anagram of Carolus – Charles…

The writings of Carroll are still popular because they are inspirational. The continuing theme of both is growing up. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, originally intended to amuse Alice Liddell, is, broadly speaking, a metaphor for the irregular process of growing up. Indeed, sometimes too tall, sometimes too small…

Bend and beyond the obvious framework, there comes the logical, yet complex, creation of Carroll's letter to the world − its puns, its satires, its literary criticism, its burlesque of public-school education, its cutting treatment of Victorian society. When Dodgson was writing his books, he was really Carroll the Independent, unrepressed, free to go where his imagination led him.

Three main strands of satire and parody are interwoven behind Alice. One is, very nearly, political satire. It is not overt, not too deliberate or too clear. The merest hint was enough − by the choice of Sir John Tenniel, chief political cartoonist on Punch Magazine, who illustrated the books.

Another strand is parody on children's literature. At the turn of the 19^th century, it flourished. Some of it was published in various religion-inspired periodicals to which Robert Southey, the one who, as a child, cried listening to the horrifying nursery rhyme, contributed the original of Old Father William. The prototype's title was The Old Man's Comfort, a welter of pious platitudes. That is why translators do have a hard nut to crack when translating Carroll's parodies!

The first Russian translation of Carroll's work appeared, anonymously, as early as 1879. It was entitled "Соня в царстве дива". Four new translations appeared before 1923. Two more came that year, and one of those was made by 23-year-old Vladimir Nabokov who was living in Germany then. It was also for economic reasons that Nabokov embarked on the translation project. In fact, he was handsomely rewarded: 5 US dollars was big money in the ruined, post-war Germany.

Though the translation is a little bit domesticated (" Аня в стране чудес"), yet the young poet managed with parodies masterfully. His translations are indeed parodies; the prototype poem shows through unmistakably. This approach was used later by Boris Zakhoder when retelling the book to young readers.Appreciating the following translation excerpts, the Intelligent Reader can infer a lot about how to approach a seemingly nonsensical text (Text 46). Can you tell which text is which – a Marshak, a Nabokov, and a Zakhoder?