# Translation Shenanigans at HUSI October 22, 2024 Madeleine Aber - [ Blog ](/news-categories/blog) ![Madeleine Aber](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/huri/files/maddie.jpg?itok=UMlhWCL2) ## by Madeleine Aber Over the summer, whilst taking Prof. Dibrova’s *Ukrainian for Reading Knowledge* and feeling thoroughly empowered by our leader, I decided to take a stab at literary translation. I chose my favourite Ukrainian author, the satirist Ostap Vyshnia (born Pavlo Mykhailovych Hubenko in 1889), who I made sure to unleash upon my HUSI classmates in the form of endless weekly printouts. More specifically, I chose Vyshnia’s 1954 piece *Отак і пишу*, which I translated as “...And that’s how I write.” When I began reading and translating, from the title, I understandably expected the inside scoop on Vyshnia’s writing process. Instead, I yet again fell down the rabbit hole of Vyshnia’s playful and humorous world of literary tricks, wordplay, and proverbs. Having read a lot of Vyshnia previously, I really should’ve known better. This time, though, the translation demanded a deeper engagement with the text, requiring meticulous attention to every word, phrase, and expression. This process was so enjoyable that I quickly abandoned my hope for a clear-cut answer. In pursuit of what I felt was the “best” translation for each neologism, colloquialism, and idiom, I tackled each puzzle separately, until I had enough jigsaw pieces to start putting them all together. I gave this process of playing with words, seeking multiple opinions from professors and peers alike, and obsessively researching etymology, history, and philology, a name: "translation shenanigans." It was through these translation shenanigans that I found my own answer to how I believe Vyshnia writes; with fun, lightheartedness, absurdity, and merriment. **Vyshnia’s Unique Genre: The** ***Usmishka*** Probably the most difficult thing I was (and continue to be) “suffering” with is the translation of the name Vyshnia himself coined for his humourous works – “усмішки” (transliterated: usmishky)*.* I ran into this problem in *Отак*, as Vyshnia informs the reader that: “А я сам для своїх речей вигадав назву — "усмішки".” “I have invented my own name for what I write – "*usmishky*".” (Translation mine) So, I asked some of my Ukrainian friends and colleagues how they understood the word “усмішка”, and how they felt it should be translated into English. In reference to one of Vyshnia’s best-known collections, *Мисливські усмішки* (transliteration: *Myslyvski usmishky*), one suggestion I received was: *“It should be translated as ‘Hunters’ Smirks’ since the main content of the collection is to show how hunters exaggerate their successes. Those who listen to it definitely smirk.”* The concept of a smirk, a telling smile that implies the person knows something the other does not, was something I experienced first hand whilst reading Vyshnia in Ukrainian. I felt that there was always some sort of inside joke going on between himself and his readers, and as I developed my Ukrainian reading skills over the summer, I felt increasingly “in” on the joke. Having said this, a lot of Vyshnia’s references still went over my head, many of which Prof. Dibrova kindly filled me in on (for example, Vyshnia makes tongue-in-cheek references to Lenin on more than one occasion in *Отак*). The pitfall for me is that, in English, “smirk” can sometimes imply a slight smugness or malice, taking away from the lightheartedness that I found characteristic of what I’ve read from Vyshnia thus far. Another friend of mine suggested that: *“...It should be translated as 'smiley', or maybe even 'titter', because \[it\] means the moment right before you burst into laughter… But not \[...\] “smile”, it's too rigid and insufficient for such an eloquent word.”* I definitely agree that “smile” is far too rigid and insufficient as a translation, as I think it dilutes the multifaceted nature of Vyshnia’s humor. The little smile or smirk on your face just before you start to laugh: this is what I felt an “усмішка” was. However, an English translation of this phenomenon remains elusive, but, in Vyshnia’s words, “він, безперечно, десь є.” (it’s undoubtedly out there somewhere). **Playing with Proverbs** I found Ukrainian proverbs incredibly valuable for learning the language. They also provided meaningful insights into Ukrainian customs, religion, superstitions, history, and even the weather. Translating them, however, can be a devilishly tricky puzzle. Their meanings are deeply embedded in linguistic and cultural contexts, so you can’t translate a proverb in the true sense of the word. A wise man once told me that translation can be compared to a tree or a potted plant. You have to uproot it from the original language and then work out where and how to replant it in the target language. I definitely mutilated a few potted plants over the summer. But I think it made me a better translator, albeit a terrible, borderline criminal gardener at times. In *Отак і пишу,* the most enjoyable proverb to translate was “Не святі горшки ліплять!” – literally, “pots aren’t sculpted by saints!”. In essence, it means that anyone can learn to do something if they want to. I thought I’d immediately cracked it with “it’s not rocket science”. However, I quickly realized my mistake – Vyshnia wrote *Отак* in 1954, before rocket science was really “in”. Not only, then, was this translation anachronistic, but “it’s not rocket science” didn’t even appear in English until the 1980s. So, myself and Prof. Dibrova brainstormed a twist on the English proverb “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, flipping it around to get “you can teach a **new** dog **old** tricks!” Although quite a digression at first glance, I believe it fits well into the translation as a whole. It relates to the image of Vyshnia as an old dog who has slaved away for so many years. He also refers to the Soviet youth as a hot-blooded litter of pups ready to take over the literary scene. These are the new dogs, and the old tricks are the literary innovations and approaches that Vyshnia explains will now be taught to the new students of literature. My translation shenanigans, including this happy proverb fiasco, felt faithful to the playful and cheery way Vyshnia wrote in Ukrainian. Whilst reading Vyshnia, I’ve encountered “editorial shenanigans”, “geriatric shenanigans”, and “collective farm shenanigans”... and now, having finished HUSI, I am happily carrying on with my translation shenanigans. **Concluding Thoughts** It’s easy for me to say you should go ahead and learn Ukrainian so that you can read Ukrainian literature in Ukrainian. So I will say it. You should go ahead and learn Ukrainian to read Ukrainian literature in Ukrainian. But if you can’t, that’s why translations exist! It is sadly inevitable that when reading anything in translation, you will miss out on the joyful quirks of the original language; things like colloquialisms, rhythm, the “untranslatable” words, і т. д., і т. ін. Oh, and in case you were interested in Vyshnia’s answer to how he writes, here it is: “...Як взагалі писати, не знаю і порадити нічого не можу!” “...I don't know how to write at all, so I can't advise you on this!” (My translation) **Notes:** There is an English translation of some of Vyshnia’s works, titled *Hard Times,* translated by Yuri Tkach, which is available from Glagoslav Publications. The transliteration system used in this article is in accordance with Resolution 55: “On Normalization of Transliteration of the Ukrainian Alphabet by Means of the Latin Alphabet”, adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on January 27, 2010. Thank you to my friends and peers who kindly agreed to let me quote their insights on the meaning of “усмішка”, and to Prof. Dibrova for the continued help with the gardening. **Sources:** Vyshnia, Ostap, *Дещо з українознавства* (Deshcho z ukrainoznavstva), 1926, <https://[tvory.net.ua/ukrainska\_literatura/lib1/o\_vishnya/6.html](http://tvory.net.ua/ukrainska_literatura/lib1/o_vishnya/6.html)> Vyshnia, Ostap, *Отак і пишу* (Otak i pyshu), 1954, <> Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)