Russian translation of "The Tale of Kieu" to be released on November 6

The work "Truyen Kieu" printed in the original Vietnamese and the poetic translation in Russian will be officially introduced to readers on November 6 in Hanoi.i.

This is a practical activity to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Great Poet Nguyen Du (1766-2016).

Made since 2013, this work was translated based on the text of the revised collection "The Tale of Kieu" by Professor Nguyen Thach Giang, reprinted in Vietnam for the 7th time, translated into Russian still with the name Kieu (КИЕУ) and has the second name "Doan truong tan thanh" (Stage of broken heart).

This is a collective work of a group of Vietnamese-Russian translators, including Vietnamese and Russian scholars who have participated in Russian-Vietnamese cultural exchange and dissemination programs for many years, such as Associate Professor Nguyen Huy Hoang, translators Doan Tu Huyen and Vu The Khoi, poet Vasili Popov (Russia), Russian Vietnamese scholar, Associate Professor of Linguistics Anatoli Socolov.

Nguyen Du's work Truyen Kieu has been translated into many countries around the world.

During the translation process, the group of translators adheres to the principle that the work is translated into prose and edited for the first time, and then translated into poetry after the second editing. The poetry translation will be compared with the prose translation carefully and cautiously based on discussion, comments, and finally consensus.

The representative of the translation team said that the most important thing is not to decode or translate the usual meaning, but to have a translation that is close to the original meaning, a complete poetic translation, conveying the entire content of "Truyen Kieu" without losing the artistic beauty of the most famous work in Vietnamese literature.

In particular, in “The Tale of Kieu” there are up to 3,236 allusions, historical references, idioms, proverbs, and Sino-Vietnamese phrases. The translation team does not expect to annotate everything, but tries to interpret each verse, helping readers grasp the meaning of the content.

In addition, the group also numbered the verses in the Russian version to help readers follow the content of the poem. To help Russian readers of different ages, social classes and education levels initially approach the work “Truyen Kieu” by Nguyen Du, the Preface of the book summarizes the life and career of poet Nguyen Du in the context of Vietnamese society in the 17th-18th centuries.

The summary of "The Tale of Kieu" is written selectively, relatively detailed according to the plot development. Then there is a brief analysis, highlighting "The Tale of Kieu" as a work of high realism and humanity, a novel in verse (роман в стихах) considered an encyclopedia of Vietnamese society in the past...

To date, the masterpiece "Truyen Kieu" has been translated into more than 20 different languages ​​with 35 translations. From December 3-5, the ceremony to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth and honor of the world cultural celebrity - Great Poet Nguyen Du will take place in Ha Tinh - his hometown./.

According to VNA