George's advice

Our second adviser is George Tokarev of Tsfat (Israel), an experienced author of over 170 translations of Vladimir Vysotsky texts. You can find many of them on "Vladimir Vysotsky. The Monument" website (or here). Besides appreciating his readable contributions to the field, you may also enjoy listening to the album of his translations of Vysotsky  recently recorded by the Swedish rock-singer Michael Ohlsson. (Also available on iTunes). 

And here are the thoughts that George has kindly shared with our blog readers:

...Vladimir Vysotsky and his songs have become a unique phenomenon in world culture. Not because he was the only bard in history - there were many in both the Eastern and Western culture. But in fact, he is the only one who has created an artistic system that includes poetry, melody and performance as three inseparable parts. This uniqueness is enhanced by the fact that all these ingredients are of the same high artistic quality. When you consider other bards, you will find that at least one component is weaker than the others. Perfect melody and performance by the Beatles was in no way matched by the lyrics. The perfect lyrics and melodic brightness of Okudjava are far superior to his rather mediocre performance. Vysotsky, on the opposite, combines the best elements of a singer, an artist and a poet.

   Of course, a translation can only manifest two of the above mentioned aspects – lyrics and melody (rhythm on paper). Therefore, a translator of Vysotsky’s songs faces a double task when attempting to adequately render Vysotsky with a new language: interpreting WHAT has been said (sang/written) by the author, as well as HOW it has been said. I believe the second aspect is way more important, because a certain word or phrase in the original may be easily replaced with a synonym or an expression that is close in meaning. Or they may even be omitted and compensated for by something else to create the rhythmic structure which ultimately effects the melody. But the MELODY of the poet’s language can’t be changed nor can it be compensated on any level. So the first requirement for a good Vysotsky translation is the correct metrics along with the rhythmic scheme, similar to the original. As many as 90% of Vysotsky’s songs are based on the five classic syllabi-tonic verse meters, which are possible to render in English in a way that closely reproduces the Russian original. Only 10% are based on the purely tonic principle (like in «Дайте собакам мяса»). These songs are easier to deal with in translation as they allow more rhythmic freedom to a translator. But in any case, the translation must be “singable”. Being readable is not enough in Vysotky’s case. 

   The second important feature to be strictly observed in the Vysotsky translations is the rhyming. In the Vysotsky’s poetics rhyme is one of the main, principle elements. Thus, if a Vysotsky translation claims to be a good one, then Vysotsky’s rhyming scheme must be preserved.

   English as a language is more analytic type than Russian, which is far more synthetic and thus has a different set of rhyming possibilities, While this difference is not beyond the limits of a good translator who ought to be able to find ways to reach the rhyme standards of original Vysotsky poem. For example, to compensate for the bleakness of rhyming in English, one may use more compound rhyming or use internal rhyming (that is rhyming pairs of words inside of the same line, as well as at the end of lines).

   Another important issue to keep in mind while translating Vysotsky is the fact that not all of his songs can be adequately understood in the English speaking world without additional explanations, footnotes, etc. The Soviet reality was very often incomprehensible to the people of the West. For instance, I remember an American, who was completely at loss to understand the meaning of «Товарищи учёные...» after reading its translation. “Kill me if I understand the connection between scientists and potatoes”, he said. Then he added: “Perhaps, they are the agro-biologists experimenting on the new potato breed? Then it must be stated more clearly in the song.” Thus the possible reaction of an English speaker is also a vital element in translating Vysotsky. The translator may bravely make any necessary changes in proper names, toponyms and so on to make the song comprehensible in the West. For example, in «Она была в Париже» there is no need for preserving the names of the songs mentioned by Vysotsky when he (his lyrical “alter ego”) wanted to impress that woman – “A Cab meter”, “No man’s land” – as these titles bear no connotation for the Westerners and ring no bells for them. In this case a phrase like “my old songs” will perfectly do.

   Perhaps the reaction of an average Westerner to a translation is the main criterion to assess the translation’s success. If John Doe, after reading the translation, says “Wow!” and raises his thumb, then it is a good translation even is its lexical correspondence to the Vysotsky’s original is far from being 100%. If there is no “Wow!” and no thumbs up, then the translation is certainly a failure, even if all the words are meticulously translated and each word has found its exact verbal equivalent in English. The English translation of Vysotsky must be easily read and easily sung. A translator must create a “sticky” text – after reading it or listening to it, John Doe must be muttering its lines involuntarily. Exactly as we did after hearing Vysotsky in Russian. Vysotsky’s songs must cause rapture and delight in people wherever they live and whatever language they speak. Each translation of Vysotsky must make John Doe want more of them! If after reading the translation of Vysotski’s work, John Doe sets it aside and picks up his hamburger, then it is a bad translation!

   In the end, I would like to quote the outstanding translator from English into Russian of the bygone Soviet times – Samuel Marshak. He said: “Перевод поэзии невозможен. Но в каждом конкретном случае - это исключение” (“The translation of poetry is impossible. But each concrete case is exclusion”). I hope, this statement will be a good encouragement for you.


With best regards,

George Tokarev