COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TRANSLATIONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS

Abstract

This article discusses the secrets of the art of translation and the requirements for a translator. Opinions of world and Uzbek scholars regarding poetic translation are analyzed. Direct and indirect translations of Shakespeare's sonnets, considered masterpieces of world literature, and their achievements and shortcomings are listed. The translations of Maqsud Shaikhzade, Yusuf Shomansur, Jamal Kamal are comparatively studied.

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Tursunoy JARKINOVA. (2024). COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TRANSLATIONS OF SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS. American Journal of Philological Sciences, 4(12), 70–77. https://doi.org/10.37547/ajps/Volume04Issue12-13
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Abstract

This article discusses the secrets of the art of translation and the requirements for a translator. Opinions of world and Uzbek scholars regarding poetic translation are analyzed. Direct and indirect translations of Shakespeare's sonnets, considered masterpieces of world literature, and their achievements and shortcomings are listed. The translations of Maqsud Shaikhzade, Yusuf Shomansur, Jamal Kamal are comparatively studied.


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Volume 04 Issue 12-2024

70


American Journal Of Philological Sciences
(ISSN

2771-2273)

VOLUME

04

ISSUE

12

P

AGES

:

70-77

OCLC

1121105677
















































Publisher:

Oscar Publishing Services

Servi

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the secrets of the art of translation and the requirements for a translator. Opinions of world and

Uzbek scholars regarding poetic translation are analyzed. Direct and indirect translations of Shakespeare's sonnets,

considered masterpieces of world literature, and their achievements and shortcomings are listed. The translations of

Maqsud Shaikhzade, Yusuf Shomansur, Jamal Kamal are comparatively studied.

KEYWORDS

Poetic translation, image, form, style, rhyme, Naumenko, Gumilyov.

INTRODUCTION

Translation is the art of reinvigorating the work created

by another creator, reviving it in another language,

infusing the translator's "I" and worldview. We learned

about the way of life of nations and their spiritual level

through the translations that translators painstakingly

re-arranged. Since ancient times, the translator has

been entrusted with a huge and arduous task. He

should be familiar with history, religion, literature, and

it is necessary and necessary to have a perfect

knowledge of the language of the work he wants to

translate. Georgian writer Otiya Ioseliani says: "a

translator should know how to dive into the world of a

foreign author and confirm his own interpretation" [1],

and urges the translator not to betray himself.

S.F. Goncharenko emphasizes the burden of the

translator in the process of literary translation. He

Research Article

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TRANSLATIONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S
SONNETS

Submission Date:

December 04, 2024,

Accepted Date:

December 09, 2024,

Published Date:

December 14, 2024

Crossref doi

:

https://doi.org/10.37547/ajps/Volume04Issue12-13


Tursunoy JARKINOVA

Alisher Navo’i Tashkent State University of the Uzbek Language and Literature

, Uzbekistan

Journal

Website:

https://theusajournals.
com/index.php/ajps

Copyright:

Original

content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons

attributes

4.0 licence.


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states that poetic translation is "a translation of a

poetic text created in another language using a poetic

text in the target language." In this case, the task of the

translator is to create such a poetic text that is

conceptually and aesthetically equivalent to the

original text. [2]

Poet-translator S.T.Lukach defines poetic translation

as "an alloy of two persons, the author and the

translator." According to him, it is not enough for the

translator to know the original language for the work

of the poetic translation, he must get into a strange

environment. In other words, the translator must

"feel" the language.[3]

According to the master translator M. L. Lozinsky,

when translating a poem into another language, the

translator should take the place of the author, he

should take the place of the author, using the same

language, rhythm and style as the author of the original

text. But at the same time, the translator must remain

true to his word. [4, 92]

Important issues related to the translation of poetic

texts have always been in the eyes of world scientists.

For example, O. V. Naumenko classifies three problems

that the translator faces when translating poetic texts

[5, 88-128]: The first feature is related to the

preservation of national identity. It is known that the

poetic text reflects the concrete reality of the people.

Using the language of the same people, the translator

creates images. Therefore, the translator must adhere

to the unity of form and content in order not to deprive

the poetic text of its national identity.

The second feature is the preservation of the

"atmosphere" of the period when the poetic work was

created. In such a situation, the task of the translator is

to convey the atmosphere of the original text, which

allows the readers of this text to feel the same

atmosphere and the same attitude.

Important issues related to the translation of poetic

texts have always been in the eyes of world scientists.

For example, O. V. Naumenko classifies three problems

that the translator faces when translating poetic texts

[5, 88-128]: The first feature is related to the

preservation of national identity. It is known that the

poetic text reflects the concrete reality of the people.

Using the language of the same people, the translator

creates images. Therefore, the translator must adhere

to the unity of form and content in order not to deprive

the poetic text of its national identity.

The next feature of poetic translation requires a choice

for the translator: It is necessary to make the

translation more accurate, that is, to keep the form or

translation as natural sounding as possible, that is, to

emphasize the ideological content of the text.[6]

In his works, Gumilyov thinks that the translator should

follow a number of criteria in the process of translating


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poems. It specifies the following requirements for

translating poems:

1. Choosing an image. The translator chooses which

words are best to use to convey the image the author

has created. Through this, the image of the author is

revived.

2. Choosing a form, that is, determining the exact

number of verses. In this case, the translator does not

have the right to omit a certain part of the form

without changing it.

3. Studying the author's style and unique way. The

translator should pay special attention to the author's

skill in using words. He must have the ability to

carefully notice his style, which distinguishes him from

others.

4. Form transfer. In each language, poems are written

in a unique and appropriate form, and it depends on

the skill of the translator to make it easier and more

resonant in another language.

5. Match the rhymes. In order to preserve the rhymes

used by the author, it is necessary to study the nature

of the rhymes in that language and compare it with the

native language.

6. Special styles. Parallelism and repetitions, which

help to increase the melodiousness and pathos of

poetic texts, should always be kept in the center of

attention. Because in addition to increasing the pathos

of the poem, they also carry a high semantic meaning.

7. Weight selection. In each language, the weight is

chosen based on the culture of that nation. A poem is

created in this weight. The translator should start the

poetic translation after studying the possibilities of the

weight used by the author.

Gumilyov considers the above stages one by one and

assigns to the translator the tasks of not only skillfully

translating the poetic text, but also becoming a mature

poet, a good researcher and critic.[7]

Uzbek scientists also pay special attention to the art of

translation, set a number of requirements for

translators based on world standards. In an interview

with Khurshid Davron, a mature translator and literary

critic Ibrahim Gafurov evaluates translation as follows:

"Translation is a means of communication in the purest

sense. It brings together different cultures on earth,

enriches national cultures with non-stop mutual

experiences and discoveries. Culture is destroyed if it is

cut off from cultures. There are many examples of this

in human history. All the cultures that disappeared

were separate from others. In addition to being a

means of communication, translation is a wonderful

development factor for humanity" [8]. Safarboy

Rozimboyev, doctor of philological sciences: "Personal

creativity is created by the search for ideas, and

translated works are created by the search for suitable


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words. Because the work to be translated contains a

ready thought, a ready idea, a ready concept. The

translator has to find a logically deep word for it, which

can be expressed in a form and a beautiful way. The

choice of words is a creative process that depends on

the artist's vocabulary, sharp taste, and delicate taste.

Therefore, every artist who decides to translate should

be an intelligent person with high taste and mastery of

vocabulary and the art of words[9]," he said. Noting

that scientific and literary translations had a high place

in the creative search and development of world

literature by the representatives of the new national

culture, in particular, from Abdulla Kadiri to Abdulla

Oripov and Erkin Vahidov: Genres, colorful and bright

poetic image expression tools made their work

extremely attractive. Dante, Shakespeare, Byron,

Saadi, Hafiz, Goethe, Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky...

came to Uzbek literature through their work. Abdulla

Qahhor even "put on Chekhov's glasses". According to

Yesenin, Mayakovsky's melodies sounded like

thunder," he enumerates the updates that came

through the translation.

When the translator addresses the work of a

representative of a foreign nation, foreign language,

culture, he is entrusted with a great responsibility. The

translator introduces the author of the work to

readers, readers with different life experience, people

with different life experience, lifestyle and national

psychology. If the translator is highly qualified, knows

the language, the history and culture of the language

well, feels the "pulse" of the work, he can fully convey

the main idea conveyed by the author in the work

[10,27].

Uzbek readers have enjoyed the best examples of

world literature through the possibilities of the art of

translation. Our poets and writers turned to new forms

for translations. They were able to create our national

literature filled with the treasures of world literature.

Askad Mukhtar, Hamid Ghulam, Ramz Bobojon, Azod

Sharafiddinov, Adil Yaqubov, who treated translation

as a serious creative work, did not fail. The best

masterpieces of world literature have been translated.

Erkin Vahidov translated Yesenin's poems with magical

kinship and soul. Reference was made to the works of

Shakespeare. It must be admitted that the translation

of Shakespeare's sonnets was a special event in Uzbek

literature.

At first, in 1965-66, Maqsud Sheikhzoda translated

Shakespeare's sonnets 11, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 29 into

Uzbek. Later, Azam Obidov translated sonnets 21, 54,

55, 65, 66, 128. Khurshid Davron also had the honor of

translating sonnets 27, 28, 29, 66 with great interest.

The complete version of Shakespeare's sonnets was

first brought to the attention of readers by the poet

and translator Yusuf Shomansur in 1978. He translated

it into Uzbek from the Russian version of S.

Marshak.[11,7-190] Although the poet did not use the

original version, it was welcomed as a happy event in


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Uzbek literature. "In the last century," says

Muhammadjon Holbekov, "Shakespeare's sonnets

were translated into Russian by such poets as B.

Pasternak, S. Marshak, A. Finkel." Even Samuil Marshak

won the state award in 1948 for the translation of

Shakespeare's sonnets. Our well-known poets Maqsud

Shaikhzada and Yusuf Shomansur translated the

sonnets from Russian into Uzbek. As we welcome the

445th anniversary of the birth of the great master of

words Shakespeare, we witness that the joy, deep

observation, sincere love and noble desires that

occupied the author's heart in the poet's sonnets are

still alive today, inviting the reader to think [12]".

Acquaintance with Shakespeare's works significantly

enriched literature, a new era developed under

Shakespeare's influence began, which was the

beginning of the Uzbek translation school. Contributed

to its formation and development. Shakespeare works

translators, poet and to the attention of writers,

criticism, debates, many studies, became an object of

interpretations and real admiration[13]. Kh. Doniyorov,

A. Rahimov: "Many successful translations of rare

examples of world literature have enriched the cultural

treasure of our people and served to develop their

spiritual life. From this point of view, the immortal

tragedies of V.Shakespeare, works of A.S.Pushkin and

M.Y.Lermontov, novels of L.N.Tolstoy and R.Tagore,

Mark

Twain

and

Balzac,

Sh.Rustaveli

and

T.Shevchenko, M.Gorky and Lu.Sin, Nazim The best

works of Hikmat and Yulius Fuchik, M.Sholokhov and

M.Avezov have been translated into Uzbek translation.

along with being considered a great achievement of

our art, it made a great contribution to our spiritual and

cultural development"[14, 221],

expresses his opinion

about literary translation of the period. They also note

that Maqsud Shaikhzade and Shunqar have tried to

translate Shakespeare's sonnets and compare them:

"Sheikhzade's

translation

is

very

close

to

Shakespeare's sonnets, and many features of the work

are conveyed to the reader naturally. There is no doubt

that skill plays a role here.'' The authors emphasize

here, firstly, the superiority of skill, and secondly,

"mullaq", which is not correct in content in Shunqor's

translation and is presented only for weight

("repetition of "gorkam", "mehri ziyada"), which

cannot convey the meaning of the Russian ”, shows the

use of the words “days”, “orazing” as its

shortcomings.

Along with his teacher Maqsud Shaykhzade, Yusuf

Shomansur showed enthusiasm in translating

Shakespeare's sonnets and continued his work as a

translator in his own unique way. It was noted that he

completely translated Shakespeare's sonnets as his

major translation work. Boriyeva Nargiza analyzes the

direct and indirect translations of Shakespeare's

sonnets,

examines

their

achievements

and

shortcomings. Yusuf praises Shomansur's translation

skills: "Translating a sonnet is twice as difficult as


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translating a poem. Because the sonnet limits the

translator a little. The translator has absolutely no right

to edit the content and form of the sonnet. This limits

the freedom of the translator. The translator of the

sonnet, first of all, should not spoil its content, inner

musicality and tone, the charming sound of the rhymes

should not lose its original form, the beauty of

figurative expressions should be preserved. Yusuf

Shomansur also tried to follow this method while

translating Shakespeare's sonnets. The skill of the

translator is that no one thinks that the sonnets

translated by the poet are translated from Russian, but

they are accepted as sonnets written in Uzbek. If the

reader compares them with their Russian translation,

he will recognize Yusuf Shomansur's skill as a

translator. Because the translator deeply understood

the true nature of the sonnet and tried to preserve its

whole spirit. It should be said here that Yusuf

Shomansur's translation is not a surrogate of the

original, but a unique form of Uzbek poetry. He did a

commendable job of conveying Shakespeare's burning

breath to the Uzbek reader" [15,96]. The dissertation

mentions the achievements of the translation as well

as lists some of its shortcomings. He points out that in

some sonnets there are falsities in tone and rhyme,

idiosyncrasies in the choice of words, deviations from

the content. We thought it would be appropriate to

point out that the translator used indirect translation

as the cause of these errors. Because there are two

clearly visible disadvantages of indirect translation: the

first is that any work absorbs to a certain extent the

features of the translated language and adapts to the

literary environment in which it is translated; the

second - the translator who turns from the

intermediary language remains the author and follows

the interpretation of the translator, repeating exactly

the mistakes he made. Due to the fact that any

translation is not free from a certain level of errors, its

errors, combined with those of its predecessor, are

doubled. 6 translations of Shakespeare's sonnet 66 are

analyzed in the article "Linguoculturalism in the

translation of Shakespeare's sonnets". When

comparing the translations of N. Gerbel, F. Chervinsky,

M. Tchaikovsky, B. Pasternak, O. Rumer, S. Marshak, it

was found that the content of Gerbel and Tchaikovsky

is somewhat close to the original, the connection

between verses is lost in the translations of Chervinsky,

Rumer and Marshak, they that it is not so bright and

expressive is shown as a flaw, and Pasternak tries to

preserve the meaning of the last two verses and

convey them correctly The fact that it was successfully

evaluated once again confirms the correctness of our

opinion, that is, that the errors in Yusuf Shomansur's

translation were also caused by the shortcomings of

Marshak.

After independence, more precisely, in 2010, the first

translation from the original text into Uzbek was made

by Jamal Kamal [17, 121-195]. Jamal Kamal skillfully

translates not only Shakespeare's sonnets, but also 12


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plays. He also enriched the treasury of Uzbek literature

by translating a number of masterpieces of world

literature.

The highest peak of Jamal Kamal's translation art is U.

Shakespeare's "Sonnets". While reading these

translations, you will not only be amazed by their

perfection, but you will feel as if these poetic lines were

written by Shakespeare in Uzbek[18]. Dissertation

Boriyeva Nargiza Yusuf Shomansur, Jamal Kamal

compares the translations with the original. To

compare Yusuf Shomansur's work, he refers to the

Russian translations of S. Marshak. In particular, in the

process of analyzing sonnet 66, Yusuf Shomansur

emphasizes that he enriched the translation of S.

Marshak with solemn expressions. We can feel that the

loading used by the translator served to increase the

solemnity:

Nafratimga duchor: hukmki nohaq

Kamolotga zavol, iffatki

poymol,

Sharmandaliklarki,

qilinar ardoq,

Qudratki,

zaiflik changalida lol.

Also, the spirit of drama is blowing in the verses. The

world is depicted as falling into the swamp of error.

The lyrical hero is naked, covered in luxurious clothes,

and everything. This expression is in Yusuf Shomansur:

Hashamdor libosda,

har narsaki puch;

In Jamal Kamal:

Va hasham libosda yurgan jaholat

Expressed in the form Translators refer to the last

verses in their own way, in a special tone. Yusuf

Shomansur:

Nimaiki ko‘rdim,—

bari badkirdor,

Lekin seni qandoq tashlab ketay, yor

and infuses his own style into the verses.

REFERENCES

1.

Talantlivoe netlenno [electronic resource]

URL:

http://www.rcmagazine.ge/component/content/ar

ticl/1018.html

2.

Goncharenko,

S.F.

Poetic

translation

and

translation

poetry:

constant

and

variable

[electronic

resource].

URL:

http://samlib.ru/w/wagapow_a_s/poetic-

transl.shtml.

3.

Lukacs, S.T. Poeticheskiy perevod - eto splav dvukh

individualostey,[elekronnyy resurs]/ S.T. Lukacs.

Poeticheskiy

perevod

eto

splav

dvux

individualostey,

2013.

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http://www.proza.ru/2014/09/18/551.

4.

Lozinsky,

M.L.

Iskusstvo

stikhotvornogo

perevoda[text]

/

M.L.

Lozinsky.

-

M.:

Prosveshchenie, 1987. P.92.


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5.

Gasparov,

M.L.

Bryusov

and

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Naumenko, O.V. Osobennosti i trudnosti prevoda

poezii , [Electronic resource]/ O.V. Naumenko//I

International Scientific and Practical Internet

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Gumilyov, N.S. O stikhotvornykh perevodax,

[Electronic

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Gumilyov//Nikolai

Gumilyov: electronic collection, 1997-2016. URL:

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Gafurov I, Khurshid Dostmuhammad. The love and

irony of translation// World literature, 2012, 11.

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www. kh-davron.uz.

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Boriyeva N. The artistic style of Shakespeare's

sonnets and the question of its restoration in

Shakespeare's sonnets: Doctor of Philosophy in

Philology (PhD)... diss thesis.

Tashkent, 2020.

158 B.

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Shakespeare U. Sonnets. Translated from Russian

by Y. Shomansur. T., 1978, pp. 7-190.

12.

Kholbekov M. "Ishqing sakhchuchchi koksim

bekalkan yakhud" or Shakespeare's happy

sonnets/Literature and art of Uzbekistan". 2009,

No. 28.

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Rahmatova M, Beknazarova D. Presentation of

linguokulturemas

in

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Shakespeare's sonnets/ International journal of

education, social science & humanities. finland

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Doniyorov X, Rahimov A. Some issues of our

literary translation//Eastern Star. 1967. Issue 8.

Page 221. 240 p.

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Sultonova D. Problems of direct and indirect

translations

of

artistic

texts//Educational

innovation and integration. 11-05-2024.

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Shakespeare W. Sonnets. Translated from English

by J. Kamal. T., 2010, pp. 121-195.

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Talantlivoe netlenno [electronic resource] – URL: http://www.rcmagazine.ge/component/content/articl/1018.html

Goncharenko, S.F. Poetic translation and translation poetry: constant and variable [electronic resource]. – URL: http://samlib.ru/w/wagapow_a_s/poetic-transl.shtml.

Lukacs, S.T. Poeticheskiy perevod - eto splav dvukh individualostey,[elekronnyy resurs]/ S.T. Lukacs. Poeticheskiy perevod – eto splav dvux individualostey, 2013. – URL: http://www.proza.ru/2014/09/18/551.

Lozinsky, M.L. Iskusstvo stikhotvornogo perevoda[text] / M.L. Lozinsky. - M.: Prosveshchenie, 1987. P.92.

Gasparov, M.L. Bryusov and literalism[text]/M.L.Gasparov//Masterstvo perevoda 1971. - M.:Sov.pisatel, 1971. - S.88-128.

Naumenko, O.V. Osobennosti i trudnosti prevoda poezii , [Electronic resource]/ O.V. Naumenko//I International Scientific and Practical Internet Conference "Dialog culture - dialog o mire i vo imya mira", 2012. - URL:http://www.confcontact.com/2012_10_24/5_naumenko.htm

Gumilyov, N.S. O stikhotvornykh perevodax, [Electronic resource]/N.S. Gumilyov//Nikolai Gumilyov: electronic collection, 1997-2016. URL: https://gumilev.ru/clauses/5/.

Gafurov I, Khurshid Dostmuhammad. The love and irony of translation// World literature, 2012, 11.

www. kh-davron.uz.

Boriyeva N. The artistic style of Shakespeare's sonnets and the question of its restoration in Shakespeare's sonnets: Doctor of Philosophy in Philology (PhD)... diss thesis. ‒Tashkent, 2020. – 158 B.

Shakespeare U. Sonnets. Translated from Russian by Y. Shomansur. T., 1978, pp. 7-190.

Kholbekov M. "Ishqing sakhchuchchi koksim bekalkan yakhud" or Shakespeare's happy sonnets/Literature and art of Uzbekistan". 2009, No. 28.

Rahmatova M, Beknazarova D. Presentation of linguokulturemas in the translation of Shakespeare's sonnets/ International journal of education, social science & humanities. finland academic research science publishers. 22-04-2023.

Doniyorov X, Rahimov A. Some issues of our literary translation//Eastern Star. 1967. Issue 8. Page 221. 240 p.

Sultonova D. Problems of direct and indirect translations of artistic texts//Educational innovation and integration. 11-05-2024.

Shakespeare W. Sonnets. Translated from English by J. Kamal. T., 2010, pp. 121-195.