"The Feast of Literature". Nikolay A. Fedorov: How to Teach the Art of Translation in the Process of Teaching Latin

Abstract

The article discusses the principles of translation from Latin, developed by Nikolaу A. Fedorov (1925–2016), the legendary teacher of Moscow University, while teaching Latin. He played a significant role in the formation of many generations of classical philologists. His teaching career at Moscow State University lasted 70 years. The article also examines the role and place of Fedorov's translations in the history of Russian translation culture. We explore the origins of the Moscow school of translation of classical philologists, the development of this school and its continuity in the work of Nikolay A. Fedorov. No less important is another aspect: the formation of the principles of translation in inseparable connection with the methodology of teaching Latin. The article describes the method of presentation of Latin grammar in the "classic textbook of Moscow State University", created in collaboration with Valentina I. Miroshenkova. In Russia, the textbook has been in demand for almost half a century and has survived 27 editions. In the pedagogical practice of Nikolai A. Fedorov, teaching Latin grammar and teaching translation are inextricably linked. Early acquaintance of students with complex Latin syntax is of great importance here. Fedorov has raised a whole galaxy of professional translators. The opinions of Nikolay A. Fedorov's students, who have become prominent philologists, about his teaching the art of translation in Latin classes are given. And we also give fragments of texts by Mark Tullius Cicero, Ambrose of Mediolansky and Jan Amos Komensky translated by N. Fedorov, which demonstrate the range of the translator (from the 1st century BC to the 17th century), the quality and skill of translation. The translator preserves with maximum accuracy all the structural features of the author's text. And at the same time, Fedorov, finding the necessary lexical equivalents, brings historical texts closer to the modern reader, making all the nuances of meanings clear to the reader.