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In Constance Garnett's Crime and Punishement, the mother of the protagonist Raskolnikov calls her young children 'The most rising generation.' (An instance is on page 32) . The phrase seems strikingly odd.
David McDuff's rendering of the same as 'The most recent generation' helps shed light, though only by being different from the other, itself only slightly less odd.
Is this a case of totally forbidding language barrier? Thanks for your thoughts.
It seems like an awkward translation. If I have it right, it appears first in Part 1, Chapter 3, then twice in Part 1, Chapter 4 in slightly different form. In all three examples, it is used in reporting the speech or writing of others. Of these three examples, two are set off in quotes, indicating that it is a notable (or peculiar) phrase, even in the Russian.
It literally means "the very newest generation," up-and-coming, avant garde, leading edge, cutting edge. It should be translated as a very current way for "the very newest generation" to refer to itself. I am very far from "the very newest generation" so contemporary slang escapes me. The closest I might come up with is "the bleeding-edge generation." Nextgen?
[edit: added the following]
I'm not sure if the Russian will come out, but I'll try:
????? I/????? III
...
? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ?? ??????? ???, ??? ?? ??????? ?????????????, ?? ?? ?????? ?????????, ??? ?? ??? ?????????, „????????? ???????? ????????? ?????“ ? ???? ???? ?????????????.
...
????? I/????? IV
...
???, ??????, ?????? ?? ????????????: ?? ???????? ? ????????????? ???????? ???????? ????????, ??????? ?????????, ???????? ???? ??????? (??? ???????? ???? ???????, ??? ????????, ????????????), ????????? ? ???? ?????? ? ???????????? ????????? ???????? ????? ????????? (??? ????? ??????) ?, „???????, ???????“, ??? ???????? ???? ???????.
...
? ?????????, ?????? ?, ??? ???? ?????? ? „????????-?? ??????????“ ??? ?????????
...
Glenn said
????? I/????? III
...
? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ?? ??????? ???, ??? ?? ??????? ?????????????, ?? ?? ?????? ?????????, ??? ?? ??? ?????????, „????????? ???????? ????????? ?????“ ? ???? ???? ?????????????.
...????? I/????? IV
...
???, ??????, ?????? ?? ????????????: ?? ???????? ? ????????????? ???????? ???????? ????????, ??????? ?????????, ???????? ???? ??????? (??? ???????? ???? ???????, ??? ????????, ????????????), ????????? ? ???? ?????? ? ???????????? ????????? ???????? ????? ????????? (??? ????? ??????) ?, „???????, ???????“, ??? ???????? ???? ???????.
...
? ?????????, ?????? ?, ??? ???? ?????? ? „????????-?? ??????????“ ??? ?????????
...
That would be MY translation of Russian.
Wouldn't the rising generation be the one that you're raising?
At times, I've wondered if Sergevitch Kruschev's "We will bury you" wasn't more "eat my dust!" trash talk, rather than an ominous threat of mass extinction. Translation, especially of idiom, is SO difficult. It's hard enough to say something that won't be misunderstood, even when no translation is required. The other day, I said "I'll take it in trade" to a woman. A guy would understand that we do minor things for each other all the time, and no payment was called for in this case. She, however, was offended, thinking I was calling her a prostitute. Sheesh!
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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