| Abstract [eng] |
In 1917 the novel “Robinson Crusoe” of Daniel Defoe (year 1660 – 1731) was published, and at once became one of the most readable fiction in England. Until the end of XIX century not less than seven hundred publishings, translations and followings have appeared. Thanks to “Robinson Crusoe” a new term in literature had appeared – robinsonade. This was used for all successive fiction where the adventures in desert island were depicted. For robinsonades the poetics of rambling plot was characteristic. In this kind of texts the ordinary motives of travel, the fragments of adventures, and nomadic as well as lost people were described. The archaic Defoe's text revived in the works of other authors. “Robinson Crusoe” was translated into many languages. It was also impossible to count all the translations, followings, and adaptations of Defoe's book. Regardless that all Defoe's followers retained the main idea of robinsonade, their texts were always new with partly changed content. As there are few examples of translations and followings of “Robinson Crusoe” in Russia, this circumstance has become the main reason of selecting this theme, which thus based the relevance of this work. The aim of this work has been to review two distinct adaptations of “Robinson Crusoe” in Russia. Using interpretative, comparative and textual methodologies the distinctions and similarities have been analysed. The Defoe's text has been compared to Lev Tolstoy's adaptation and Korney Chiukovsky's adaptation-following. The object of the research – Russian writer's, publicist's, XIX century literature classics's Lev Tolstoy's adapted “Robinson” (year 1862) (version adapted for village children) and XX century Russian poet's, publicist's, critic's, and also translator's and literature investigator's, the author's of works for children Korney Chiukovsky's adapted “Robinson Crusoe” (year 1920) (following intended for children). In 1862 writer Lev Tolstoy (Лев Николаевич Толстой (year 1869 – 1945)) in educational magazine “Jasnaja poliana” („Ясная Поляна“) mentioned the title of Defoe's novel “Robinson Crusoe”. In the same years in second part of the magazine Tolstoy published his own version of “Robinson”: “(„Робинзон“. Рассказ для детей. Обработка под редакцией Л. Н. Толстого”. Tolstoy wrote in the understandable manner for illiterate village children. The author of a “new” Robinson accepted this stating that “the idea itself is important in the text as well as the stylistics eliminating hardly understandable sentences from this text” (translated by K. Ch.). The text did not exclude the moral principles, the importance of family and the picture of diligent person. What was the contribution of Tolstoy in the adapted novel “Robinson Crusoe” is not exactly known. It is stated that the “original” text by the order of Russian writer was adapted and rewritten by the student of Moscow University P. Serdobolsky (П. А. Сердобольский). The record can hardly be read and understood, the idea is not clear (Atarova, 1990, p. 343 ). The question has not yet answered: whether P. Serdobolsky newly recreated the Defoe's novel “Robinson Crusoe”, or only rewrote Tolstoy's adapted Defoe's text? In the period of 1860 – 1861 Tolstoy travelled through Europe. He participated in Charle's Dickens lecture in England. The prerequisite thus can be made that Tolstoy followed the original Defoe's “Robinson Crusoe”, i.e. novel written in English. Into his adaptation Tolstoy only transferred Defoe's ideas. Although it should be noted that the Bible here was not emphasized, and there was no broken ship, from where Robinson took many things which helped him to survive. Tolstoy's Robinson made everything by his own hands. Self-analysis of Robinson also was not depicted. In Tolstoy's desert island Robinson spent twenty years, while in “original” book – twenty eight years. Tolstoy's “Robinson” was notably shorter – of only 34 pages. Defoe's “Robinson Crusoe” consisted of twenty four chapters, while Tolstoy's – only eleven. In 1920 Korney Chiukovsky (real name Nikolaj Korneychukov) (Корней Иванович Чуковский (Николай Васильевич Корнейчуков) (year 1904 – 1965)) prepared the following of Defoe's novel, adapted for small readers. The text was adequate to its primary version, however, did not convey the idea of text intended for adults. This following was shorter, and did not include the last chapter, introduction was written by the follower himself: this was like a short guide informing about the content of the novel. The introduction thus became as the separate story. It is not known which “Robinson Crusoe” text was followed by Chiukovsky when he created his own following-adaptation for children. Although the prerequisite can be made that this was the original, authentic novel written by Defoe. Chiukovsky knew English language very well. In the circle of his friends he had such famous English authors as Arthur Conan Doyle and Herbert George Wells. In Chiukovsky's adaptation the Bible and God was totally forgotten, the self-reflection of the main character also was refused, there was less discussed about fear and death. The structure of novel was also changed. Chapters did not match. Defoe's “Robinson Crusoe” consisted of twenty four chapters, Chiukovsky's – twenty eight. Adaptations – texts depicting adaptation to the national, political and cultural contexts. |
