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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 69:6 (2023) ► pp.797–821

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Notes in English retranslations of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita

Function, meaning, and significance

 | University of Maribor
Published online: 14 April 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00310.vid
Abstract
This paper focuses on paratextual elements in the form of endnotes and footnotes in four annotated English translations of Mikhail Bulgakov’s most famous novel, The Master and Margarita. The paper aims to analyze the translators’ perception of the reader’s cultural knowledge, what the translators believe the audience might not know that they consider important, and the translators’ ability to recognize Bulgakov’s allusions and references. The paper explores the thematic categories and the content of the notes to evaluate how they introduce the readers to a different cultural environment and to what extent the notes are helpful to the reader. The empirical section is based on an analysis of more than five hundred footnotes and endnotes divided into thematic categories. The importance of notes in understanding translators’ decisions based on assumptions about what may be unfamiliar to the target audience has been extensively researched (Toledano-Buendia, Maria Carmen. 2013. “Listening to the Voice of the Translator: A Description of Translator’s Notes as Paratextual Elements.” The International Journal for Translating and Interpreting Research 5 (2): 149–162. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Landers, E. Clifford. 2001. Literary Translation: A Practical Guide. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Sanchez Ortiz, Maria. 2015. “The Use of Footnotes in Literary Translation.” FORUM: International Journal of Interpretation and Translation 13 (1): 111–129. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Pellatt, Valerie, ed. 2013. Text, Extratext, Metatext and Paratext in Translation. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholar Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). No scholarly attention has so far been paid to any paratextual material connected to the English translations of Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, which is one of the most often retranslated works of fiction of Russian classics.
Résumé
Cet article se concentre sur les éléments paratextuels sous forme de notes de fin et de notes de bas de page dans quatre traductions anglaises annotées du roman le plus célèbre de Mikhaïl Boulgakov : Le Maître et Marguerite. L’article vise à analyser la perception des traducteurs de la connaissance culturelle des lecteurs, ce que les traducteurs croient que le public pourrait ne pas savoir et qu’ils considèrent important, et la capacité des traducteurs à reconnaître les allusions et les références de Boulgakov. L’article explore les catégories thématiques et le contenu des notes pour évaluer comment elles permettent aux lecteurs de se familiariser avec un environnement culturel différent et dans quelle mesure les notes sont utiles aux lecteurs. La partie empirique est basée sur l’analyse de plus de cinq cents notes de bas de page et notes de fin divisées en catégories thématiques. L’importance des notes pour comprendre les décisions des traducteurs fondées sur des hypothèses concernant ce qui est potentiellement inconnu du public cible a fait l’objet de nombreuses recherches (Toledano-Buendia, Maria Carmen. 2013. “Listening to the Voice of the Translator: A Description of Translator’s Notes as Paratextual Elements.” The International Journal for Translating and Interpreting Research 5 (2): 149–162. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar ; Landers, E. Clifford. 2001. Literary Translation: A Practical Guide. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar ; Sanchez Ortiz, Maria. 2015. “The Use of Footnotes in Literary Translation.” FORUM: International Journal of Interpretation and Translation 13 (1): 111–129. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar ; Pellatt, Valerie, ed. 2013. Text, Extratext, Metatext and Paratext in Translation. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholar Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Jusqu’à présent, aucune attention savante n’a été accordée au matériel paratextuel lié aux traductions anglaises du Maître et Marguerite de Boulgakov, qui est l’une des œuvres de fiction les plus souvent retraduites des classiques russes.
Article outline
  • I.Introduction
  • II.Theoretical background
  • III.The notes’ structure in English translations of The Master and Margarita
    • Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O’Connor (1995)
    • Richard Pevear and Larisa Volokhonsky (1997)
    • Michael Karpelson (2006)
    • Hugh Aplin (2008)
      • Common notes
  • IV.Thematic fields
    • Data analysis
    • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (32)
References
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Afzali, Katayoon
2025. The retranslator as the propagandist of MOI. Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation / Revista Internacional de Traducción 71:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

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