Vu Dinh Long's play "Grail of Poison" was translated into Russian. Photo: Igor Britov

What made you translate "Grail of Poison" into Russian?

Natalia Kraevskaya, Associate Professor at the International Faculty of the Vietnam National University, is the initiator of the play "Grail of Poison" by Vu Dinh Long. On the 100th anniversary of the premiere of the play "Grail of Poison" at the Hanoi Opera House (October 22, 1921), Natalya Kraevskaya, in honor of her father-in-law, decided to publish this play in Russian. Natalia Kraevskaya asked me to do a translation, it was a great honor for me. I agreed because I have been interested in Vietnamese literature for a long time, having read a lot about this play, I understand the importance of its appearance to Russian readers.

Can you give an overview of play's content?

Recounting in detail the content of a literary work of a great master is an extremely difficult task. The best way is to read the play itself, reflecting on its meaning and the author's ideas. In Vu Dinh Long's work, a socio-psychological play in everyday life, painful issues are raised, that are typical of Vietnamese society in the early twentieth century.

The family of the main character, Thong Thu, appearing in the play is an epitome of Vietnamese society in the early twentieth century. This society is infected with many evils in people's lives and makes them unhappy. The overall picture of the play includes scenes that take place in everyday life. These situations were familiar to Vietnamese audiences at the beginning of the last century. Vu Dinh Long was the first person to realistically describe life on stage, the reality of life in literature and art that met the requirements and demands of that era.

Translator Igor Britov, lecturer in the Vietnamese language department at the Higher School of Economics, National Research University. Photo: Igor Britov

When translating the play into Russian, what impressed you the most?

Previously, I participated in translating Vietnamese novels into Russian. Some stories have been published on famous Russian foreign literary magazines. Although I have accumulated experience in translation, I understand that with Vu Dinh Long's play, I have to work especially hard. It turned out to be the hardest translation I've ever had to undertake. This is largely because the work was written a hundred years ago, in a different era, so it contains many confusing words, unusual sentence construction, and the play is imbued with cultural features foreign to Russian readers. Many Vietnamese have confessed to me that they themselves do not understand all that is written there.

A translator not only translates from one language to another, but also immerses the reader in another culture. Translating Vietnamese pronouns is another tough job. As you know, in Vietnamese there are a large number of pronouns that reflect the relationship between the interlocutors, their social status, and age. There are only eight personal pronouns in Russian. It is difficult to convey all the richness of color of Vietnamese pronouns with the help of these eight pronouns. Especially for classical, historical texts, it is necessary to combine the efforts of translators with native speakers and experts in different fields.

Translating Vu Dinh Long's play is not only difficult, but also interesting for me because it is a creative process. I now know how to make the best sentences, use metaphors, choose words that fit the characteristics of the time and nature of the character. It was also a useful activity, I learned a lot about the history, culture and traditions of the Vietnamese people.

The meeting, held on Zoom, brought together Vietnamese scholars, students and all those interested in Vietnamese culture from Moscow, St.Petersburg, Vladivostok, Hanoi, Antwerp and Berlin. Photo: Igor Britov

How was the translation introduced and welcomed by the readers?

The 100th anniversary of the production of Vu Dinh Long's play "Grail of Poison" was held on a very large scale in Vietnam. The events take place within the framework of the Week of 100 years of Vietnamese theater. The play "Grail of Poison" is performed on the same historical stage where it was first staged - in the Hanoi Opera House. On October 23, project participants held a book launch event, in which Vu Dinh Long's play "Grail of Poison" was published in Russian. The meeting, held on Zoom, brought together Vietnamese scholars, students and all those interested in Vietnamese culture from Moscow, St.Petersburg, Vladivostok, Hanoi, Antwerp and Berlin.

In Russia, the published book aroused great interest of Vietnamese people, as well as philologists studying world literature. Russian writers have the opportunity to read Vu Dinh Long's play in Russian, which is also a valuable work from a scientific point of view. The reason is because it can compare Russian play with Vietnamese, to find out the features and identify common patterns in the development of literature of different peoples. Perhaps the Vietnamese play will be of interest to theater directors, and it will be staged in a theater in Moscow.

What are your plans in the future? Will there be new works translated into Russian?

The Russia-Vietnam relationship has the nature of a comprehensive strategic partnership. The word “comprehensive” implies specifically cooperation in many different fields, including the field of literature. Unfortunately, over the past 30 years, the Russian-Vietnamese interaction in this area has not made any progress. Over the past ten years, a little more than ten books by Vietnamese authors have been published in Russian. This is a huge drop, especially when compared to the number of Vietnamese novels translated into Russian during the Soviet era. Today, in Russia, translations from Vietnamese are done by enthusiasts who love Vietnam and appreciate Vietnamese literature. It would be a great success for them to meet businessmen who are willing to support the idea of ​​promoting Vietnamese literature in Russia.

Strong support from Vietnam is needed at all levels in the translation industry. Vietnam is increasingly demonstrating its economic potential, which has reason to believe that Vietnam's cultural advancement in the world will continue to expand. I am willing to continue translating Vietnamese novels into Russian.

Culture helps to understand another country, its way of life, traditions, bringing people closer together. I hope that the upcoming visit to Russia by Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will create new motivation for the development of Russia-Vietnam relations in all fields, including literature and art.

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