The Skaz Technique in Translation: Aspects of Stylistic Rendition (“A Nasty Story” by Dostoevsky, Translated into Spanish by Alejandro Ariel González)

Abstract

The article is concerned with the problem of rendering the techniques of Dostoevskian ‘skaz’ in Spanish translation. The initial part of the study gives a brief overview of existing research into Dostoevsky’s style with special emphasis on the work of Yuri Tynianov, Boris Eichenbaum, and Mikhail Bakhtin, among others. Then, building on the theoretical concepts outlined (such as parody, in the Tynianovian sense, the ‘skaz’, Bakhtin’s polyphony, as well as meta-rhetorical devices), and using as comparative material a recent translation of Dostoevsky’s short story “A Nasty Story” (“Скверный анекдот”), by Alejandro Ariel González, the authors discuss the translation of “someone else’s speech” (direct or indirect), lexical choice, the imitation of spontaneous speech, as well as other ways of implementing “linguistic masks”. In addition, consideration is given to elements of metalinguistic games and the possibilities of their representation in translation. It is concluded that the various elements making up the ‘skaz’ type of narrative are translatable to varying degrees. Thus, the treatment of “another’s speech”, the rivalry between different narrating voices, and the stylistic conflicts between different registers — be it for comic or deautomatizing purposes — are successfully reproduced in translation. This is quite unlike the metalinguistic elements of ‘skaz’ which tend go beyond the scope of specific comic contexts and begin to participate in the organization of the entire narrative material, aiming at dominating it. In such cases, translation can only be partial.