“The fruits of education” in B. Zahoder’s translation of “Alice in wonderland”

Abstract

The article deals with analysis of “Alice in Wonderland” translated by a well-known children’s writer B. Zahoder. «The fruits of education» appeal to the knowledge of different school disciplines in Alice’s reminiscences as well as in recollections of the fairytale characters inhabiting the Wonderland. Using the Russian language material B. Zahoder finds some funny analogies and invents quibbling parallels to Alice’s mistakes and blunders. By Alice’s speech on the school topics one can easily guess her status of a primary school pupil. English and Russia language play in naming the subjects listed in the curriculum of the other school opened for the sea bottom aborigines is also of interest. But besides these two schools in B. Zahoder’s translation there is one more school the presence of which is invisibly felt. The translator’s Alice is “duplicated” in her national identity, obtaining the characteristics of a Russian girl. It is vividly traced in demonstration of her knowledge on grammar, literature, geography and a number of other subjects. Thus drawing “English” Alice to her Russian counterpart is clearly revealed. One of the major aspects of translation is versification of poems in the Russian variant of “Alice in Wonderworld”. The author of the article gives his own translation of two poems out of the stock of amusing and counting rhymes in L. Carroll’s book which are rather close to the original. The article stresses the point that upon the whole B. Zahoder coped with the task of imitating the wave of humour and paradoxes which the original masterpiece contains. These translations allow the readers without a proper command of English to estimate the poetical strategies chosen by B. Zahoder.