Themother tongue in Foreign lands
Ekaterina Yakovleva
The Russian poet of the nineteenth century, Alexander Griboedov wrote: “Even the smoke of the Fatherland is sweet and pleasant to us”. Who lives in a foreign land misses the habitual things: the taste of domestic cuisine, the sight of the native city. But what seems to be especially hard in a foreign land is missing the man’s native speech sounds, “words are sweeter than Mozart’s sounds.” When the stranger hears the Russian speech in the streets of a foreign city , he rushes to the man and to the woman : “Are you Russians?” “Yes, We are Russians,- that is what they say. A friend of mine, having gone forever to London asked me to send him Russian’s books. This was before the era of Internet. The World Network has given people the possibility to read in their native language, to communicate with close ones who left the Motherland. But what is interesting: I have one friend who emigrated from Russia to Australia, he has lived here for twenty years , he teaches at the University and he writes books , scientific and fiction. He writes scientific books in English, but he writes stories and poems in Russian and the characters of his fiction are Russian people.
In my opinion, the best book by Nabokov - “Other banks”(“Memory, speak” in English translation). This book was written in a foreign country, and it is dedicated to the childhood of the writer who spent it in Saint- Petersburg. The books written by him in English, Nabokov translated in Russian , more precisely, rewrote them, because in Russian the books sound different.
Many Russian writers and poets, composers and artists, scientists and other creative people left Russia at different times and for different reasons. Some of them left involuntarily, fleeing the revolution and repression, others left voluntarily in search of the better life or the creative freedom .Incidentally, three of six Russian Nobel winners are emigrants, they are Bunin, Solzhenitsyn, Brodsky. One more Russian poet - Pasternak , living in the Soviet Union had to refuse the Nobel Prize for the reason not to be chased. The destiny of the Russian language abroad is high and tragic at the same time. The whole Word pays tribute to Russian Literature. The most educated people all over, when they are asked about associations with Russia firstly, they answer: Literature. The Russian scientist and poet of the 18th century, Lomonosovwrote: “Charles the Fifth , the Emperor, used to say that the Spanish language is the best for speaking with God, French with friends, German with enemies, Italian with the women. But if he knew the Russian language, then of course he would add that this language is good to speak properly with all of them, because Russian has got the magnificence of Spanish, the liveliness of French, the fortress of German , the tenderness of Italian, besides it has got the wealth and ability to express many things in short words of the Greek and the Latin languages.” The great Russian writer of the nineteenth century Turgenev spent most of his life abroad, he became the citizen of France. Being a political opponent of the tsarist government, he wrote: “In the days of doubt, in the days of painful reflection about the fate of my country – you are the only one to support me, great mighty, truthful and free Russian language!” Not being you, how not to fall into despair at the sight of all that is done at home? But it is impossible to believe that such language was not given to great people!”
It is hard for foreign reader to guess how much the prose of Dostoevsky loses in translation . It is also difficult to understand for foreigners why Pushkin is considered the best Russian poet. The magic of Pushkin poems is hidden in amazing form. It is just impossible to express the thought in Russian than it is written by Pushkin.
It takes many years of dedicated work to master a foreign language perfectly. If the person does not know it like his native one, he may ask the way to the hotel, to explain it, to tell about himself, he can enjoy reading books. But he can’t do the most important thing – his identity, the way he does it with the help of the native language. He can’t as well make good jokes and understand some jokes, he can’t notice the subtleties and strangeness. In a sense, he loses half of his personality. The native language is such important part of his own life, as gender and appearance and perhaps is more significant part. I tried to convey my feelings about my native language in a foreign land. Thank you!