Nadryw

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Nadrýw ( Russian надрыв ) is a Russian word used by Fyodor Dostoyevsky for the first time in the novel The Demons for emotional tension. In translations of the novel The Brothers Karamazov it was presented in different ways: 'pain ecstasy' ( Fedor Stepun ), 'sore spot' ( EK Rahsin ), 'excessive increase' ( Werner Creutziger ). Swetlana Geier left the word untranslated and made it known in Germany.

meaning

Grammar and semantics

Nadryw is a neologism of Dostoevsky. It is formed as a noun from the previously used reflexive verb 'nadrywatsja' / 'nadorwatsja'. In Pavlovski's Russian-German dictionary (Riga 1911), nadrywatsja is rendered as "harm yourself", " annoy yourself ", " exert yourself with all your might". The reference work Slovar 'russkogo jazyka ( Dictionary of the Russian Language , Moscow 1983) defines nadryw as "excessive exertion" (чрезмерное усилие) and "excessive pathological sharpness in expression" (чрезмерная, болезмерная, болеырная, болеырная, болеыная, болыгь, болыныг.

The verb nadrywat is a compound of the verb rwat ( рвать , dt. To tear) and the prefix nad ( над , dt. To). Originally the term referred to the change of a material structure under the influence of a mechanical force. The prefix nad is used in Russian to refer to an early stage process.

In addition to this physical “tear”, rwat can also denote a strong psychological tension. It can then be compared to German idioms: Patience or the thread of patience can break or something pulls on our nerves - which does not happen when one has nerves like wire ropes . Nadryw can then be roughly translated as "exuberance".

Connotations

Since Dostoyevsky, the term has entered the Russian language to mean a specific, extreme state of mind. In this sense it is mostly used disparagingly. The writer Andrei Bely describes "the fear of Nadryw" that had seized his friend Alexander Blok and that he avoided "the subject of Nadryw" for this reason. AW Lunacharsky , first People's Commissar for Culture (see People's Commissariat for Education ), describes in his article On Dostoyevsky's polyphony (1929) "that unbearable Nadryw" as an unpleasant state of mind "that occurs among people of this class as a result of the breakdown of old principles, as a consequence of the extreme uncertainty of the future and the heavy weight of the present ”.

Translation variants

Formulations such as "pain ecstasy", "sore spot", "exaggeration" or "excessive exaggeration" were used in previous Dostoevsky translations. Ilma Rakusa writes : “Swetlana Geier adopted the term as terminus technicus in her most recent translation , on the grounds that it was untranslatable. In fact, German solutions such as 'Schmerzekstase' (Fjodor Stepun), 'sore spot' (EKRahsin), 'excessive increase' (Werner Creutziger) are only approximations. A counterpart is not available, as if the matter itself was unknown. ”The English translator David McDuff comments on his translation 'crack up' with the associations 'cracks', 'ruptures', 'hysterias' and the French 'déchirement'.

Question of translatability

In connection with the new translation of Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov , Svetlana Geier cited the word as an example of the fact that it is not always possible to transfer literary meanings from one culture to another. Geier leaves Nadryw untranslated in the German version, which she justifies with the fact that the German language offers no equivalent for the Russian expression. She supports this with excerpts from the correspondence between literary scholars Dmitrij Tschischewskij and Fyodor Stepun :

Tschischewski wrote in Russian (June 15, 1949):

“ Dear Fyodor Agustovich! […] How do you reproduce the following words, which you have certainly done in your lectures, which are absolutely indispensable for Russian intellectual history and by no means easy to reproduce like:

1.) Oproschscheniye
2.) Khozhdeniye v narod
3.) Nadryw

That's all. "

Stepun replied in German (June 30, 1949):

“ As for the question of translation, I can hardly suggest any fixed terminology that would correspond to the three words you wrote down. (...) Nadryw is the hardest to describe by the paraphrase: I have often spoken of 'ecstasy of pain', from time to time of a “vehement outcry from the soul”. I do not believe that the words can be translated once and for all or that they can be fixed in terms of terminology, unless there is agreement on such conceptual crystals. I haven't thought of anything sensible in three days of thinking about it. "

Nadryw in Dostoyevsky's work

In the novel The Demons (1870–1871) the word nadryw appears for the first time. This describes a state of mind that leads the main character Stavrogin to a hasty marriage: "It was the nerves, a Nadryw". The figure of Maria Timofejewna Lebjadkina explains Stavrogin's actions at this point with a kind of masochism : "You marry out of a passion for torment, out of passion for remorse, out of spiritual lust". In the novel Der Jüngling (1875) the word is used twice.

In Dostoyevsky's last novel The Brothers Karamazov (1878–1880) Nadryw plays a dominant role. Here nadryw is clearly differentiated from the term “hysterical attack” or “ hysteria ”. In the novel, which consists of twelve “books” (including the foreword and epilogue ), the term is introduced by the exalted Mme. Chochlakowa in the fourth book entitled “Nadrywy” and is often repeated from this point on. Three consecutive chapter headings name the seizure, confused agony of various people with “Nadryw” .

The Slavist Wolf Schmid has explained the concept in various papers. Its definition is:

Nadryv (explained by the dictionaries as the "exaggeration", the overexertion, the overexcited expression of a feeling bordering on hysteria) is a basic psycho-ethical situation in Dostoevsky's world, an exaggerated moral attitude that contradicts an actual tendency, a form pseudo -idealistic self-denial. In most places, nadryv is best portrayed as self- rape .

Reception in Germany

The Russian word nadryw has gained particular popularity in Germany since the 1990s due to the spread of the Dostoyevsky translations by Swetlana Geier. As part of Frank Castorf's theater adaptation of The Brothers Karamazov at the Berliner Volksbühne , set designer Bert Neumann had a banner with the word in Cyrillic letters hung on the facade of the theater in 2015. In the feature film Axolotl Overkill , the film adaptation of Helene Hegemann's book Axolotl Roadkill , the main character wears a T-shirt with the inscription. In 2017 a film was released about the end of Frank Castorf's Volksbühne directorship with the title NADRYW - The Volksbühne as the final reality .

literature

  • Wolf Schmid: "The Karamazov brothers as religious 'nadryv' of their author", in: Wiener Slawistischer Almanach, special volume 41 (1996), pp. 25–50.
  • Irina Lewontina: "Dostoevskij nadryv", in: Wiener Slawistischer Almanach 40 (1997), pp. 191-203.
  • Ilma Rakusa: Edge or middle is not the question. From translating from Slavic languages. In: Centrel Yurop Driims - Where is Europe located? Culture magazine Passagen der Pro Helvetia , No. 36, Spring 2004, pp. 30-33. (Online) (PDF file, 624 kB)
  • Ruth Ewertowski: " Artist of Language". Fyodor Dostoyevsky: "The Karamazov Brothers", translated by Svetlana Geier. Book review in: Die Drei , Heft 5, 04, pp. 80–81. (Online) (PDF file, 116 kB)
  • Brigitte Espenlaub: “In the vortex of feelings”. Fyodor Dostoyevsky: "A green boy". Translated from the Russian by Swetlana Geier. Book review in: Die Drei. No. 4, 08., pp. 89-90. (Online) (PDF file, 176 kB)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Wolf Schmid: "The Karamazov brothers as religious 'nadryv' of their author", in: Wiener Slawistischer Almanach, special volume 41 (1996), pp. 25–50, p. 26.
  2. ^ Wiktionary German idioms
  3. ↑ The Russian-German dictionary gives two meanings of the term надрыв . Here it means 1. (slight) crack m 1a (-ss-) 2. Excessive tension f, exaltation f.
  4. ↑ Andrej Belyj and AW Lunatscharski quoted from: Fjodor Dostojewski: Die Brüder Karamasow , from the Russian by Swetlana Geier, Frankfurt / M. 2007 (2), p. 1252.
  5. ↑ Cf. Ilma Rakusa: Edge or middle is not the question. From translating from Slavic languages. In: Kulturmagazin Passagen ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 639 kB). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.prohelvetia.ch
  6. ^ Fyodor Dostoevsky: The Brothers Karamazov (Penguin Classics), 1993, transl. by David McDuff, p. 903.
  7. ↑ “Anyone who has tried it themselves knows how difficult it is to“ transfer ”from another cultural area. Svetlana Geier's fact that that sometimes doesn't work is documented by the fact that she occasionally leaves words untranslated, such as the Dostoevskian key word »Nadryw«, which describes an extreme emotional tension that can only be grasped from the variety of contexts. " Ruth Ewertowski: " Artist of Language". Fyodor Dostoyevsky: "The Karamazov Brothers", translated by Svetlana Geier. Book review in: Die Drei , Heft 5, 04, pp. 80–81.
  8. ↑ Both excerpts are quoted from: Fjodor Dostojewski: Die Brüder Karamasow , from the Russian by Swetlana Geier, Frankfurt / M. 2007 (2), pp. 1254f.
  9. ↑ Carl Hegemann: On the death of Bert Neumann: Der Souverän der Volksbühne . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed November 12, 2019]).
  10. ↑ "Male ideas are over-present in the cinema". Retrieved November 12, 2019 .
  11. ↑ NADRYW - The People's stage as ultimate reality (Short version). Accessed November 12, 2019 (German).