Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University Department of Germanic and Romance Philology and Translation invites you to participate in the annual Translation Contest
The aim of the contest is to develop and disseminate linguistic culture, increase the interest of future specialists in translation, reveal and stimulate the creative potential of the individual, and attract poetry fans to the best examples of the beauty of words.
The competition is held for the best translation of a poetic work from English, German, French into Ukrainian, and vice versa – from Ukrainian into English, German, French.
Higher education students are invited to participate in the contest. Each contestant can take part in the competition in one or more nominations, of which there are six this year. The jury will determine the winners in each of the nominations.
Competition entries are accepted at bovt@snu.edu.ua until April 30, 2023.
Translation evaluation takes into account the following: originality of creative ideas underlying the translation; accuracy of the translation and proximity to the original; sense of language, conveyance of the meaning and beauty of the text; adequacy of lexical and grammatical means; disclosure of culturally specific features of the translation; reflection of the meaning; stylistics of the translated text; quality of rhyme, rhythm; aesthetic equivalence.
The winners of the translation contest will be announced in June. All participants will receive a certificate of participation, and the winners will receive diplomas. A collection of the winners’ translations will be published as a result of the contest.
You may find the rules for submitting entries in the Appendix and here.
Nomination 1: Best translation of a poetic work from English into Ukrainian
To the 125th Birth Anniversary
C. S. Lewis
Sonnet
The stars come out; the fragrant shadows fall
About a dreaming garden still and sweet,
I hear the unseen bats above me bleat
Among the ghostly moths their hunting call,
And twinkling glow-worms all about me crawl.
Now for a chamber dim, a pillow meet
For slumbers deep as death, a faultless sheet,
Cool, white and smooth. So may I reach the hall
With poppies strewn where sleep that is so dear
With magic sponge can wipe away an hour
Or twelve and make them naught. Why not a year,
Why could a man not loiter in that bower
Until a thousand painless cycles wore,
And then-what if it held him evermore?
Nomination 2. Best translation of a poetic work from French into Ukrainian
Charles Baudelair
Les chats
Les amoureux fervents et les savants austères
Aiment également, dans leur mûre saison,
Les chats puissants et doux, orgueil de la maison,
Qui comme eux sont frileux et comme eux sédentaires.
Amis de la science et de la volupté
Ils cherchent le silence et l’horreur des ténèbres;
L’Érèbe les eût pris pour ses coursiers funèbres,
S’ils pouvaient au servage incliner leur fierté.
Ils prennent en songeant les nobles attitudes
Des grands sphinx allongés au fond des solitudes,
Qui semblent s’endormir dans un rêve sans fin;
Leurs reins féconds sont pleins d’étincelles magiques,
Et des parcelles d’or, ainsi qu’un sable fin,
Étoilent vaguement leurs prunelles mystiques.
Nomination 3: Best translation of a poetic work from German into Ukrainian
Wilhelm Busch
Im Herbst
Der schöne Sommer ging von hinnen,
Der Herbst der reiche, zog ins Land.
Nun weben all die guten Spinnen
So manches feine Festgewand.
Sie weben zu des Tages Feier
Mit kunstgeübtem Hinterbein
Ganz allerliebste Elfenschleier
Als Schmuck für Wiese, Flur und Hain.
Ja, tausend Silberfäden gebe
Dem Winde sie zum leichten Spiel,
Die ziehen sanft dahin und schweben
Ans unbewußt bestimmte Ziel.
Sie ziehen in das Wunderländchen,
Wo Liebe scheu im Anbeginn,
Und leis verknüpft ein zartes Bändchen
Den Schäfer mit der Schäferin.
Nominations 4, 5, 6. Best translation of a poetic work from Ukrainian into English/French/German
Людмила Яцура
Живи, Вкраїно!!!
Живи, Вкраїно!!! Вір у майбуття!
Долай незгоди, прикрощі і зради,
Хай Віри промінь дасть тобі життя,
Заб’ється серцем чесної громади.
Живи, Вкраїно!!! Квітни величаво!
З тобою вірні дочки і сини!
Летить, як голуб, гордість, честь і слава!
Калини цвітом хрещені вони.
Живи, Вкраїно!!! Зраду як прощати?..
Народу голос – він, як дзвін, живий!
Прийшла пора ганебний жах здолати,
І ти сьогодні осторонь не стій!
Живи, Вкраїно!!! Земле наша рідна!
Принижень годі і страху тобі…
Твоєму небу з пшеницями видно,
Як твоя ВОЛЯ дістається в боротьбі.
Хай зійде сонце вранішньо і мирно,
Ти волелюбна, ти – моя сім’я,
Живи, Вкраїно!!! Ти живи, Вкраїно!!! Хай буде доля, як ясна зоря.