Vladimir Nabokov as a Translator: the Author’s Translation of Selected Wordplays in the Novel Lolita

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to present the results of observations concerning the translation strategies and methods employed by Vladimir Nabokov in the process of translating his most famous novel, Lolita, from English into Russian.

The discussion focuses on the translation of wordplay, which in Nabokov’s text serves as an element of play between the author and the reader. According to the writer, a good reader’s task is to follow the author’s train of thought, uncover word puzzles, and decode the hidden information within them – information that is not always essential to the plot. As illustrated by the examples presented in the article, Nabokov uses elements characteristic of the cultural circle of his audience in his verbal and phonetic combinations. Therefore, translating English wordplay into Russian often required him to create new combinations of words so that the Russian-speaking reader could experience the same effects as the original audience.

The results of the analysis demonstrate the decisive role of cultural differences in the more or less successful attempts to translate wordplay in the case of a translator who took on the challenge of translating the text of his own novel from a language that was foreign to him, though well-known, into his native language, which was somewhat forgotten.