— You have translated stories by Mikhail Zoshchenko and novels by Eugene Vodolazkin into Spanish. Could you share your experience of this?
— Although I have been teaching translation theory and the translation of official documents at the University of Granada for 30 years, I only started translating fiction relatively recently—just five years ago, despite having wanted to translate it for a long time.
When I was in Eugene Vodolazkin the doctoral
programme at MSU in the late 80s, books began to emerge that had not been available before. I remember getting my hands on Arkady Averchenko’s stories. I bought this expert on improving pedro lopez book right at MSU and kept thinking that I would translate it someday. It was only recently that I actually translated it, and, of course, the book is highly popular in Spain.
Then a publishing house, which later also published the translations of Eugene Vodolazkin’s books, suggested that I translate stories by Mikhail Zoshchenko. The director of that what mechanics to use to sell a complex product publishing house said that he had read them in English and would like to know how they would sound in Spanish. Of course, it is not easy for the young Spanish-speaking audience to understand some aspects of life in Soviet society at that time, but I am still proud that I was able to make this small contribution to the translation of Zoshchenko’s works.
When it comes to contemporary authors, I absolutely adore Eugene Vodolazkin. I have translated most of his works into Spanish, except for his most recent one, including Laurus, The Aviator, Brisbane, and A History of the Island.
Another outstanding
contemporary writer is Dmitry Danilov, and I was delighted to translate his book Sasha, Hello!.
I truly enjoy working as a translator because it allows me to promote excellent literature in our countries and introduce it to the Spanish-speaking public. Fluency in foreign ao lists languages is an invaluable skill. Some say it’s like living multiple lives, and I couldn’t agree more.
Knowledge of foreign languages and cultures reveals the magic of all human achievement. For example, in music, I would love for as many people as possible to discover masterpieces like the famous waltz from My Affectionate and Gentle Beast or Sviridov’s waltz from Musical Illustrations to Alexander Pushkin’s The Snowstorm.