The joy of recognition, a sense of difference: about the book of poems by poets of bulgaria for children translated by m. Yasnov

Abstract

The book “A Box with Fairy Tales” includes poems by contemporary Bulgarian poets for children. It presents poets of different generations, each with their own special creative approach. Translations made by M. Yasnov embodied the idea of both unity and diversity at the same time. They bring the world of Bulgarian poetry closer to the Russian-speaking reader but maintain enough of a distance to allow the child to experience difference in message and style. The composition of the book is constructed in accordance with this idea: the poems are grouped into two parts and they follow the theme rather than a particular author. Information about the Bulgarian poets is given at the end in a form of small biographical vignettes. The themes in the book cover the timeline from early childhood to the threshold of adulthood. The book celebrates the creative legacy of the Bulgarian authors such as Z. Vasileva, V. Samuilov, M. Dalgacheva, P. Kokudeva, and I. Tsanev. Yasnov’s translations reveal a rich variety of poetic forms and language play in the original such as syntax and graphics, phonics, vocabulary that stand out on all levels of the poetic text. A particular tribute is payed to the author of the biographical articles on Bulgarian poets, Dr. G. Petkova, Sofia University of “St. Kliment Ohridsky” as well as to the artist O. Yavich for their contribution to this book.

Keywords: Contemporary Bulgarian poetry, poetry for children, translation of poetry, M. Yasnov, «A Box with Fairy Tales»